Former Commons speaker John Bercow has called Boris Johnson “a liar” and confirmed he no longer considers himself a Conservative.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB) ahead of the Queen’s Speech, Bercow said he would list “a number of examples” of the prime minister not telling the truth.
The former speaker told the GMB hosts: “It is simply factually wrong for the prime minister to say that the economy under this Conservative government has grown by 73%.
“The figure is in fact 20%. It is wrong and provably for him to say there are 400,000 fewer families living in poverty – nobody recognises that statistic.
“It is wrong for him to say the government has reintroduced the nurses’ bursary that simply isn’t the case.
“It is demonstrably false.”
Bercow added that in the past if a minister misled the Commons they would correct the record without needing “much coaxing to do so”.
“Those days are gone”.
The ex-Tory MP confirmed he has since moved to the “soft left” and voted for Labour mayor Sadiq Khan in the mayoral election in London.
“Yes it is unusual but it is authentic,” he told guest presenter Alastair Campbell.
“I have gone from being a rabid rightist to being a soft leftist.”
It led to Campbell asking who he supported in the local elections.
“How I voted was for Sadiq Khan,” replied Bercow.
“I thought he was far and away the best candidate to be mayor of London.
“I think he absolutely deserves a second term.”
“So you no longer consider yourself to be a Conservative at all?” pressed Campbell.
“No!” was the response from the former speaker.
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