John Bercow

“I think the state opening of Parliament is an incredibly important occasion, and broadly speaking, the way in which it's done is an invaluable tradition.”

“Even youngish men can acquire wisdom as time goes by.”

“I'm not psychic. I cannot know what is in the mind of particular public figures.”

“I'm supremely uninterested as to what is written in many of the newspapers.”

“A legislature cannot be effective while suffering from public scorn.”

“When I first started out in politics I was, what you might describe as, a hard right Conservative.”

“It is quite wrong for party conferences to be used as an excuse for the Commons not to sit. Conferences could be held at weekends.”

“There is no denying or hiding the fact that over the years I moved from well on the right of the Conservative Party, much much more to its left, and therefore to the centre of the poltical spectrum.”

“If someone is being very cheeky, it can be quite fun to deal with that situation.”

“For far too long the House of Commons has been run as little more than a private club by and for gentleman amateurs.”

“There are people who are just very, very sniffy and snobby and have always sort of looked down their noses at me.”

“I do strongly believe myself that members of the government who sit in the House of Lords should be accountable to the elected House because otherwise there is a democratic deficit, and that is wrong.”