Last month, The Daily Telegraph disclosed that Mr Bercow “flipped” the designation of his second home between London and his constituency when he sold two houses in the space of a year, enabling him to avoid paying capital gains tax (CGT) on the profits from either sale.
He denied any wrongdoing but said he would pay £6,508 plus VAT to HM Revenue & Customs to cover the tax he could have been asked to pay on the sale of one of the homes.
The Tory MP for Buckingham also claimed almost £1,000 for the cost of hiring an accountant to fill in tax returns. Members of the Government were criticised for submitting similar claims because it was rare for members of the public to be allowed to reclaim accountants’ bills as a legitimate expense.
Mr Bercow has made no secret of his long-held ambition to become Speaker. In 2000, when the position was last vacant, a website called Bercow for Speaker was set up anonymously. Last month he sent a letter to MPs saying: “I am asking people to vote… for a Speaker who has what it takes to restore trust in Parliament and politicians.”
But details of Mr Bercow’s expenses raised questions over whether he was the right man to clean up the parliamentary allowances system. Land Registry records obtained by The Daily Telegraph showed that in May 2003, six months after he got married, Mr Bercow sold his constituency home in Adstock, Bucks, for £162,000 and bought another house in the county. Records do not show how much profit he made.
In September 2003, Mr Bercow sold a flat in Victoria, London, for £335,000, which he had bought in 1998 for an undisclosed sum. He and his wife, Sally, then bought a flat in a nearby block.
Mr Bercow, a former merchant banker, flipped the designation of his second home between London and his constituency so that each house was designated as his main home at the time he sold it, meaning he did not have to pay CGT.
A list of MPs who have repaid money claimed on expenses, published by parliament last week, showed that Mr Bercow paid back £1,470.62 he claimed on his office expenses but it was not disclosed what the repayment was for.
In addition to his parliamentary salary, Mr Bercow is paid between £35,000 and £40,000 as an adviser to a private health care company registered in the Cayman Islands.
The son of a taxi driver, Mr Bercow studied politics at the University of Essex before going into banking. He was elected to parliament in 1997 and was a member of Iain Duncan Smith’s shadow cabinet but was later critical of the Tory leader, prompting speculation that he might defect to Labour.
Mr Bercow was previously on the Right of the Conservative Party and a member of the controversial Monday Club that has been criticised for backing the repatriation of immigrants. He spoke of his distaste of Nelson Mandela in the 1980s. However, he later supported attempts for MPs to be banned from joining the Monday Club.
