Will ‘stopping Bercow’ win it for Beckett?

There is a growing feeling that the “Stop Bercow” campaign will win the day on Monday.

The sense is that John Bercow might very well top the ballot on the first round of the Speakership contest but then not pile on many votes.

Sir George Young and Margaret Beckett could be vying for second place. MPs of both Labour and Tory persuasion who don’t want John Bercow might then rally round someone no one had thought of as Speaker in a contest most thought was the Tories’ turn: Margaret Beckett.

In a hustings this morning Margaret Beckett mentioned Selwyn Lloyd, who was Speaker in 1974 when she first arrived in the House as an MP.

Mrs Beckett said seeing a Speaker in action in a time of minority government taught her what might be needed if the next general election failed to give anyone a majority.

I found Brownite Labour, Blairite rebels, Tory frontbench and backbench MPs today who were more than ready to back Margaret Beckett. This was originally billed as a contest that would focus on bringing in someone with a clean sheet on expenses and someone who would challenge the executive. But the determination of many to stop John Bercow is changing the focus of this campaign.

Margaret Beckett’s claims – fiercely defended – have been dragged through the newspapers more than once and she has years of experience as a famously loyal member of the executive.

It would take quite a re-branding exercise but Margaret Beckett was the Bennite MP who became a New Labour Cabinet loyalist. She could pull it off … but it might be a difficult “sell” as a new dawn for Parliament.