John Bercow is rightly damned as a bully and liar. But he was not alone in the Commons

John Bercow: ‘intergalactic hero’ or ‘serial bully’? Photograph: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex/Shutterstock

One of John Bercow’s unfortunate subordinates, recalling how “spectacularly” the former Commons Speaker lost his temper, compared the transformation to “Jekyll and Hyde”.

Although Bercow has objected to her account (“the suggestion that I waved my arms… with spittle coming from my mouth is disgusting, offensive and untrue”) and called the investigation “amateurish” and based on “tittle-tattle”, the comparison is probably one of the more forgiving lines in the report that the Commons’ independent expert panel has entitled, rather beautifully, The Conduct of Mr John Bercow.