Could John be the lightning conductor for coalition dissidents?
Would a speaker ballot be a proxy to register opposition?
The remarkable thing so far in this brave new world of coalition politics is how well the Tory right has behaved. Yes there have been a few rumblings but not on the scale that might have been anticipated.
I wonder whether the re-election of John Bercow as speaker could act as a focus for their dissent.
For it only requires one MP to object when the new parliament opens and we move into a full-scale speaker election where the voting is carried out by secret ballot.
It’s said that the Tory MP in the neighbouring constituency to Buckingham, Nadine Dorries, is planning such a move thus triggering an election.
This is not something over which the whips have any control though they will try to exert their influence.
So those PBers who got the 9/2 against Bercow not being the post-election speakers might end up as winners after all.