John Bercow, the former speaker of the House of Commons and one of the most divisive figures in modern politics, has signed up to to appear in the US version of the hit series The Traitors. Anyone struggling to understand how or why probably doesn’t know that video clips of Bercow arbitrating Brexit parliamentary debates and PMQs have made him something of a cult figure in the eyes of American viewers.
The show, set in a castle in the Scottish Highlands, sees players secretly divided into the ‘faithful’ and a smaller group of ‘traitors’. The few, who cannot be trusted, have to eliminate the other contestants to win the £205,000 cash prize. No prizes for guessing which group many of his former Conservative colleagues think Bercow belongs to.
It is hard to avoid the sense that Westminster comes a distant second to the lure of the television cameras
Bercow is someone who has made a habit of making enemies as well as shifting political positions throughout his career.
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