Brexit: Is the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, losing his mind?

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British Parliament / Jessica Taylor

Have we reached the summit of Bercow?

The Speaker of the House of Commons seems at the same time to live up to his power over the events and near the end.

On the one hand, in a suspended parliament where the Conservatives and the Labor Party are separating under the contradictory pressure of Brexit, the President's procedural decisions have a real meaning, since he has ruled that the government can not not just keep coming back on his agreement, which had already been defeated twice. .

The ministers were furious, but many members discreetly agreed that the convention stipulated that the same question could not be asked them repeatedly, in the hope that they would eventually give a different answer.

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But many also wondered why the same rule did not apply to other proposals, and the President was challenged again and again on this point.

He has nuanced answers, but his critics do not want to hear them.

He then went further and announced that he would not allow clerks from the House of Commons bureau to accept a "notwithstanding" motion from the government, which would seek to override its decision.

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© British Parliament / Jessica Taylor

And this decision caused a lot of solemn jarring on the constitutional nerd circuit, a number of eminent commentators thinking that he had gone over the limits.

Behind the scenes, efforts are underway to find him an elegant and elegant ladder.

Meanwhile, his temper seems to fray.

On Monday, there was a misunderstanding with ex-Conservative bad Greg Hands (one of the architects of the coup attempt against him at the end of the Coalition Parliament), which has ended when the President issued a public apology the next day "in the heat of the moment".

On Wednesday night, the President again lost his temper when the President clashed with former Conservative bad Sir Patrick McLoughlin in scenes that saw him lose control of the House while Conservative MPs sat down.

Both have the form – when Sir Patrick was the chief bad in the coalition years, the two men had an astonishing red-faced quarrel, fingerprints and punches in the House. The last clash had a real advantage.

Once, the direct attacks of a deputy against the President were taboo.

This week, there were dozens in the House and online. Few conservatives, from the leader of the Commons, Andrea Leadsom, to the backbenchers, now think that they are going to harm their colleagues by making noise.

The Chairman of the Procedure Committee, Charles Walker, is a good barometer of Mr. Speaker's fortune.

He is a close ally of Bercow, one of the proponents who led the President to the presidency at the traditional ceremony of his election.

But he is also the deputy chairman of the 1922 committee, the voice of conservative backbench MPs and, as has already been stated, the troops are not satisfied with the conduct of his boyfriend .

In the past, it was he who persuaded the Speaker not to confront his Conservative critics, and the question of the "same question" rule could be the subject of another intervention.

But the real relief from Conservative anger toward the Speaker is the possibility that he will not stay in the chair any longer.

He is approaching the decade of his tenure as president, well beyond the nine-year mandate he promised in 2009.

Potential successors have taken their time and are now criss-crossing the corridors of Parliament to lobby.

And if the great crisis of the communes around Brexit resolves itself, the moment of change will be ripe.