When John Bercow finally left the Speakership at the end of 2019, MPs breathed a sigh of relief. At last, they thought, no more endless partisan showboating from the Speaker’s chair. Yet, over time, his replacement has faced a mounting chorus of criticism. Lindsay Hoyle’s interruptions at PMQs seemed to become more frequent, prompting sketch writers to accuse him of ‘headline-hoggery’. He then became embroiled in a row over ‘Speaker-led diplomacy’ after a leaked email suggested he would fly the Palestinian flag at parliament.
Next there was the debacle of last February, when Hoyle was accused of bending the rules to let Labour off the hook on a Gaza motion in the chamber. A cry of ‘Bring back Bercow!’ was even heard on the floor of the House. And now, there is increasing focus on Hoyle’s use of the office for travel. His decision to open the headquarters of Betfred prompted criticism from anti-gambling campaigners while the Times last week reported that Hoyle has racked up £250,000 in worldwide travel expenses in five years.
And today Mr S can reveal that under Lindsay Hoyle, the number of staff working in the Speaker’s office has doubled in less than five years. Between 2014 and 2019, the number of staff working under John Bercow in such roles remained roughly stable. According to a Freedom of Information request, between seven to nine staff were working in the office in Bercow’s final year in post. Yet under Lindsay Hoyle numbers had doubled to between 17 to 19 in July as of last year. Asked to explain why numbers had ballooned, a spokesman for the Speaker’s Office said:
The staffing structure of the Speaker’s Office reflects the fact that areas of work have moved from other departments in the House Administration to the Speaker’s Office and ensures there is resilience to support the Speaker and colleagues whenever there are changes in workload due to parliamentary business and events. In addition, new initiatives have been created such as an apprenticeship scheme, opening Speaker’s House for public tours and a series of annual events and exhibitions to celebrate the diversity of the House and mark key religious festivals.
As one MP asked Mr S before Christmas ‘When did John Bercow develop a Lancashire accent?’
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