As I wrote on Monday the resignation of Simon Burns as Transport Minister, a few days before this weeks reshuffle in order to allow him to contest the position of deputy speaker is something that all of us should be concerned about. This high profile role needs to promote the qualities of integrity and openness to the 650 MPs in the House of Commons, it also needs to be a role that engages outside of the Palace of Westminster, in a way that encourages all of us to participate in democracy. Finally the person elected by fellow MPs needs to demonstrate personal integrity in terms of their understanding of the role of the House of Commons and the privileges that are provided to these public servants. In all three areas, Simon Burns has shown to be lacking. Hence my view that he is personally not suited to this post. Since he resigned he has been speaking to the BBC and yesterday a fascinating piece was posted here. He claims that “In all my jobs in Parliament, whether in government or opposition, I have always behaved in a highly professional way, working with a wide range of different people.” Yet while he was a Health Minister and presumably behaving professionally he called John Bercow a “stupid, sanctimonious dwarf” He apologised later to a group of people representing people with dwarfism for any offence caused, but not to the Speaker. I don’t think Simon Burns is an appropriate candidate for the role of deputy Speaker. I appreciate that my views are hardly relevant to this contest as only MPs are eligible to vote, but I hope that all MPs whose commitment to professionalism exceeds the standards of Simon Burns will vote for another candidate. His election would be a slap in the face for people who have been called such names in their own workplaces.

The BBC report explains that another candidate is Nadine Dorries. In many ways Dorries has been the antithesis of Simon Burns in her rather chaotic attempts to make Parliament accessible to electors. Whilst many of her activites have been disruptive she has at least appeared to want to make democracy more open than the privilege demanding Burns. However Nadine Dorries has had at least as many arguments with the Speaker as Simon Burns has. This role is far too important to be allowed to become a space where personal scores are settled on our account. We need a deputy speaker who exhibits good judgement (which is not something that could ever be attributed to Nadine Dorries).

Let us hope that the other candidates for this important post include at least one MP who will add value and integrity to the role of Deputy Speaker and that our MPs will have the integrity to elect her or him!