Former House of Commons Speaker John Bercow boasted about “backstabbing” and “decepetion” being part of political life, as he took part in the TV series The Traitors US.
The 60-year-old, who faced regular criticism over his handling of Brexit, made the confession as he introduced himself to American viewers.
The Traitors US sees a group of celebrity contestants battle it out to try and work out who among them have been designated as “traitors” and must try to eliminate them from the game in order to win a prize at the end.
If the “faithful” contestants fail to correctly identify who are the traitors by the end of the series, they lose with the traitors instead winning the prize.
John Bercow stepped down as Speaker in 2019
UK PARLIAMENT
Bercow joins the show after shaving stepped down from politics at the 2019 election.
During his time as Speaker he was accused of having attempted to deliberately block Brexit and of siding with Labour in key matters against the Conservative Government.
“I’m a retired politician,” he said in his introduction on on the TV show.
“Backstabbing [and] deception are all part and parcel of the political life.”
John Bercow was found to be a ‘serial bully’ by a Parliament Standards investigation
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The controversial figure also said that his years overseeing the House of Commons would stand him in good stead for finding Traitors.
He claimed: “Over the years I have developed a knack for detecting who frankly is trying to lie, to deceive, to cheat, for material gain.”
The former Conservative MP became a Labour Party member after stepping back from his job as House of Commons Speaker.
Many Tory MPs considered the decision to be proof that he had been siding against the Brexit-backing Government when he was overseeing important votes in Parliament on the matter.
A Parliamentary Standards investigation into Bercow also concluded last year that the former Speaker had been guilty of bullying in his role in the chair.
He was also found to have been guilty of intimidation as well as sexually discriminatory remarks.
Bercow always denied the findings, calling the Commons Standards investigation process “grievously unjust”.
