Parliament’s standing is at an all time low. The expenses scandal of recent months and the subsequent public outcry, followed shortly by the ousting of former Speaker Michael Martin means that the new Speaker has taken office in unprecedented circumstances.

Reform is desperately needed, and our constituents need to be convinced that we are serious about it - particularly over allowances, procedures and accountability. As public trust in Parliament and MPs has plummeted, Labour, as the party of Government has been disproportionately damaged. We would not have started to repair that damage if we had elected a Speaker who was seen to symbolically represent the establishment or was perceived to stand for the status quo.

John Bercow was undoubtedly the “clean break” candidate whose political impartiality and reforming zeal were recognised by Members from right the way across the political spectrum, from Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, to Plaid Cymru, Scottish Nationalists and Independents who came together to endorse him in a letter published in the Guardian on 18^th June. His nomination was signed by no less than six political parties - more than any of the other candidates. The bile and hatred expressed towards Mr Bercow has done his Conservative enemies no favours, and made them look like the “nasty party” that David Cameron has sought to airbrush out of history. His main critic was the absurd and egocentric Nadine Dorries, the gaffe-prone mid-Bedfordshire MP who falsely claimed that John Bercow only secured the votes of three Conservatives when in fact those of us who were running his campaign and doing the numbers are well aware of at least 15 Tories who backed him in the final ballot.

The new Speaker of the House of Commons was the free choice of Members of Parliament and whose commitment to reform and experience of Parliamentary procedure made him the front runner from day one of this historic contest. I am not in the habit of either voting or campaigning for Conservatives, even left-leaning socially liberal ones, but John Bercow was the right choice. It is now up to the House of Commons to get behind him and his reform agenda.

[Martin Salter was John Bercow's Labour campaign manager for the election to the Speaker of the House of Commons which took place on 22^nd June 2009. Mr Bercow won through by 51 votes over the Conservative MP for North West Hampshire, Sir George Young]