The Telegraph can reveal that Mr Farage will make the announcement that he will stand in Mr Bercow's Buckingham seat at Ukip’s annual conference on Friday. Mr Farage said: “This man represents all that is wrong with British politics today. He was embroiled in the expenses saga and he presides over a Parliament that virtually does nothing. “He is not a Conservative and yet he is sitting in one of the safest Conservative seats in the country. It means the people of Buckingham cannot vote for a Conservative even if they want to. “This is a part of England where we did very well in the European elections and local elections. We are very well organised and strong and I intend to fight this very hard to become the MP.” But Mr Farage, who is an MEP for the region covering the Buckingham constituency, faces a daunting prospect in trying to win the seat. It is one of the safest Conservatives seats in the country with a majority at the last election of 18,129. Convention dictates that the other main parties do not put up candidates in the sitting Speaker’s constituency. Labour and the Liberal Democrats will now have to decide whether Mr Farage’s intervention alters that position. Mr Bercow was a controversial choice for Speaker. He was elected by fellow MPs after Michael Martin was forced to resign over his poor handling of the MPs’ expenses’ scandal. But Mr Bercow won the position with almost no support from fellow Conservative MPs. Instead, his success was down to the backing of a majority of Labour MPs who were happy for him to take the chair. They knew he was mistrusted by his own side, including the Tory leadership. Mr Bercow, who was previously considered a right winger, became more liberal-minded and even agreed to conduct a review for Gordon Brown, something that irritated Tory MPs. There has also been talk that an independent Conservative candidate could try and unseat Mr Bercow. If Mr Bercow was defeated it would mean another election for a new Speaker. The Conservatives would welcome the chance, if they won a decent majority, to have more say about who occupies the chair. Last month The Telegraph revealed that Mr Bercow has spent £20,000 of taxpayers’ money on refurbishing the Speaker’s apartment in the Palace of Westminster. The Daily Telegraph disclosed that Mr Bercow flipped his designated second home from a house in his constituency to a £540,000 flat in London, which he claimed maximum second home allowances on for four years running He lawfully avoided paying capital gains tax after buying and selling properties in both his constituency and in the Capital, and later agreed to hand over £6,500 to HM Revenue and Customs. Mr Bercow said in a statement: "I am more than happy to be judged on my track record over 12 years as MP for Buckingham, my continuing commitment to the constituency and my determination to restore faith in Parliament."Speaker John Bercow to be challenged by Nigel Farage at election
John Bercow, the House of Commons Speaker, is to be challenged at the General Election by Nigel Farage, a leading MEP and leader of the UK Independence Party.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
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