The Speaker’s manouevres are starting to generate some resistance from the floor of the House, as we’ve recently seen in PMQs.
Now, news from the labyrinth of the Palace.
The Clerk of Clerks resigned recently (to get away from the Speaker’s abusive behaviour, observers said). And Bercow has ripped up the ad for his replacement.
The job description has been rewritten to downplay clerkly knowledge, ability, virtue – and to favour managerial skills, expenditure control, ICI-type experience and abilities.
This will make it easier for an outside professional to get onto the shortlist.
However, he or she will then be competing with others of enormous procedural knowledge.
How would a clever little Prince deal with that?
He would rig the membership of the Panel of Selection.
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