Former speaker John Bercow should not go to the Lords if he is found to have bullied staff, a Cabinet minister said today.
Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom stressed an anti-bullying system introduced in Parliament applied to everyone at Westminster, no matter seniority.
She told LBC Radio: “Anybody who is found guilty should not be able to skip from one House to the other.”
She spoke out after it was reported that a formal complaint has been filed against Mr Bercow by a peer who served as his most senior official.
Lord Lisvane, ex-clerk of the House, has handed a dossier of allegations to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, according to the Times.
Mr Bercow dismissed the claims as having come at a “curious” time, given he could be in line for a peerage.
The document is said to accuse him of having bullied and humiliated staff, including using inappropriate language.
Mr Bercow, who left the speaker’s chair in October, has consistently denied allegations of bullying from former members of staff in the past.
In a statement, he said: “During the five years that we worked together, Lord Lisvane had ample opportunity to raise any accusations of bullying with me. At no stage did he do so.”
Outgoing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has reportedly been lining up Mr Bercow, who was a Tory MP before becoming speaker, for a peerage.
But there have been suggestions that Downing Street could hamper the move, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman highlighting a “long-standing convention” that opposition leaders nominate individuals from their own parties.
