John Bercow graduated from the University of Essex in 1985 with a First Class Honours degree in Government.
Before he entered Parliament, John worked briefly in the merchant banking sector and was a Director of the public affairs company Rowland Sallingbury Casey, then a subsidiary of Saatchi and Saatchi.
John was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Buckingham in May 1997. He has served as Front Bench Spokesman for Education and Employment and for Home Affairs. In September 2001, he was appointed Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. From July 2002 to November 2002, he was Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions. From November 2003 to September 2004, he was Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.
In 2005, John was voted both Backbencher of the Year and Channel 4 Opposition Politician of the Year. He received the Health Champion of the Year award in November 2006 for his work on brain tumours.
John is the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Speech and Language Difficulties and has vigorously pursued Special Educational Needs matters in parliamentary speeches and questions. John is Vice-President of AFASIC, a charity which promotes understanding, acceptance, equal opportunities and the inclusion into society of children and young adults with speech and language impairments.
John and his wife, Sally, have two young sons and are expecting their third child next spring.
