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Speaker's wife Sally Bercow: Furore over my picture is 'storm in a bedsheet'
Hannah Nathanson4 Feb 2011
A defiant Sally Bercow today insisted that the Evening Standard's photographs of her wearing nothing but a bedsheet were all in the best possible taste.
The wife of Commons Speaker John Bercow dismissed a furore over the pictures as "a storm in a bedsheet" and "a bit of fun".
"I think it's quite a tasteful photograph," said the 41-year-old, who stunned Westminster by agreeing to the portrait for today's ES magazine, accompanied by an interview in which she spoke of the "aphrodisiac" effect of their life at the Palace of Westminster.
She admitted they had not gone down entirely well chez Bercow, telling Victoria Derbyshire's BBC Radio 5 Live show: "My husband's not exactly thrilled about it but he's pretty cool really."
To critics who said her actions reflected on the Speaker, Mrs Bercow snorted: "Does that mean therefore I should be a wife who walks dutifully three paces behind my husband and keeps her mouth shut and makes cucumber sandwiches?"
She added: "I am a personality. I've got ambitions of my own and it was just meant to be a bit of fun."
However, Mrs Bercow, whose colourful twitter comments and forthright views have made her a household name to rival her other half, admitted: "I was probably stupid to do it".
"I was a fool really to agree to be photographed in a sheet. I didn't really think through the implications. I didn't know I was going to be photographed in a sheet until I got there."
Mrs Bercow said the piece "was all meant to be a bit of harmless fun" as part of the newspaper's Valentine's Day coverage and she was surprised by the reaction. "It has completely backfired on me and I look a complete idiot. The trouble is, because I'm married to the Speaker, whatever I do is put in the media and used to get at him."
Mrs Bercow added: "I think the Standard ran a headline saying 'Sally Bercow spills bedroom secrets'. I did not. If you read the copy I just talked very ordinarily." Perhaps not as "ordinarily" as MPs expect from the wife of the Speaker, however, as previously unpublished comments made to the Standard disclose.
Asked what she found sexy in men, she said: "Well, I can't say height can I because my husband's much shorter than me, so I better not say I find height sexy. I don't like smart particularly. I like smart/casual, I guess. Suits don't do it for me and certainly tweed jackets and all the typical Conservative MP regalia that my husband used to wear, corduroys and tweed jackets don't do it for me at all. So no, he now just wears normal clothes jeans and things at the weekend."
Bookies today cut odds on Mr Bercow leaving his position by the end of 2011 from 3/1 to 7/2.
Click here to read the FULL INTERVIEW with Sally Bercow
What she said in the interview
Part of the interview given by Sally Bercow to ES magazine journalist Hannah Nathanson. ES stylist Nicky Yates was also present.
Hannah Nathanson: Do you like to be courted? Are you old-fashioned?
Sally Bercow: No, God not at all. John's quite old-fashioned. I wouldn't say that I'm that romantic but I just love that view. I love the river. I feel so privileged to be living on the River Thames.
SB: If I'm going on a date, I quite like something quite simple. I've been to all the posh restaurants, like Sketch and Nobu, which are lovely, but I just quite like going somewhere simple and down-to-earth - just like the local Chinese or somewhere in Pimlico… it's nice to just put some jeans on and go somewhere quiet.
HN: Is that when you feel most sexy? In a casual look?
SB: Oh yeah… do I feel more sexy like that? No, I feel most sexy when I'm dressed up in a dress and nice heels and so on.
Nicky Yates: Can I ask a quick question, sorry to interrupt… my editor Andy's just called and said how do you feel, as an option, about doing a shot here, with Parliament behind, wrapped in a sheet?
SB: Wrapped in a sheet! Why?
NY: Because it's sexy… I'm just asking the question…
SB: What naked?
NY: Naked but with a sheet around you. So you know in Vanity Fair…very LA Sunday morning… with the Houses of Parliament behind you.
SB: What so standing here…?
NY: You won't be out there obviously, you'll be in here with just us with a sheet. You're not going to see anything but to the reader you could be naked just with a sheet. We could do fuller, bed head… sexy hair.
SB: Yeah.
NY: Would you be up for it?
SB: Yeah, I don't mind, yeah. But you mustn't photograph my feet, I don't like my feet. Bare feet, I don't…
SB: Can politics be sexy?
HN: Is it something to do with power do you think?
SB: Oh I think power is an aphrodisiac… my husband is I personally think a very good-looking bloke but since he's become an MP and particularly since he's become Speaker… the number of women who have hit on him has gone up dramatically.
HN: Do you get jealous when people hit on him?
SB: Oh God no. Oh no…
HN: I suppose it's flattering for you as well…
SB: Well they've hit on me too, so…but no I'm very fortunate. I've never suffered from jealousy…
Click here to read the FULL INTERVIEW with Sally Bercow
Reader views (74)
It is a matter of class. Her actions show how very little she has. She is as crude as Prescott. Given their politics, I am not surprised.
- Frank, Home Counties, England, 06/02/2011 10:12
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She is absoloutly so hot. Lets see MORE of her. Great looking and a fantastic body.
- Phil, London, 06/02/2011 10:00
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This is not news - nothing to see here, don't print this garbage - move along now.
- john, uk, 06/02/2011 08:05
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Sally Cow!
- Vin, Yowser USA, 06/02/2011 04:54
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Good luck to you Mrs,a breath of fresh air in the Commons.I may not agree with your political persuasion but you look better than that jordan bird that harperson wantsto chair question time.
- melvyn, bendorm,spain, 06/02/2011 03:17
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Goodness me. What a lot of prudes we have commenting here. Frightened that something like this has shattered the realms of their boring little world of normality, bran flakes, side partings and afternoon tea in the summer house.
Good on the girl. Life needs a bit of spice. Some people on this island are far too stuffy. I blame the Daily Mail.
- Jock, Glasgow, 06/02/2011 01:55
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It would appear that Mr. Speaker’s missus may have created a precedent so can we expect a few similar photos of members of the Royal Family in compromising situations to be available for all in future?
This affair smacks of the present standards in the UK akin to those of Silvio Berlusconi. It does little for the UK which increasingly is regarded as the laughing stock” of both Europe and America.
- Retired, Malta, 05/02/2011 19:50
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It would appear that Mr. Speaker’s missus may have created a precedent so can we expect a few similar photos of members of the Royal Family in compromising situations to be available for all in future?
This affair smacks of the present standards in the UK akin to those of Silvio Berlusconi. It does little for the UK which increasingly is regarded as the laughing stock” of both Europe and America.
- Retired, Malta, 05/02/2011 19:44
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Some of the remarks made by people from foreign parts on here are so Victorian ,Sally Bercow is georgeous in her own right it has nothing to do with her husband.
- Davey-buoy, Chertsey, 05/02/2011 17:03
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My, my... it seems half the country has something to say on this matter, possibly because this person has provided such a provocative and easy target. I suggest two things: 1. The complainers above should cease wasting their time on this sort of rubbish - it's been done and dusted, nothing can be done about it now. And 2, everyone with an opinion here should spend some time with some of the more 'important' news issues of the day, and give their opinion there - if they can muster one. As for the photo in question; the bedsheet covers more than most dresses. In future, however, she may also want to consider wearing a crown of thorns.
- Wayne, Fredericton, Canada, 05/02/2011 16:07
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Looking more closely at the picture and disregarding the little runt she is married to, as a 51 year old red blooded male, I wouldn't kick her out for eating crackers. Come on guys, would you, yes or no ?
- John Hardon, Watford Herts, 05/02/2011 12:15
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I am personally glad to see Sally Bercow being a bit of a maverick. She is a breath of fresh air! Stuffy old tories can like it or lump it. I personally think she looks fantastic for her age. I bet the Speaker thinks his wife is HOT!
- Cutchswife, London, UK, 05/02/2011 11:16
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When told that she would be able to see 'Big Ben' from the bedroom window,I bet she didnt expect to see a clock
- John, Walsall UK, 05/02/2011 01:26
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"It has completely backfired on me and I look a complete idiot. The trouble is, because I'm married to the Speaker, whatever I do is put in the media and used to get at him."
Yes you do look a complete idiot Sally,maybe it is because you are....
- Anne, Highgate, 05/02/2011 00:03
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Is this an advertising campaign before a return to the one-night stands?
- Giorgio, London, 04/02/2011 23:42
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Given her track record I cannot think why her husband ever thought is was a good idea to marry her. She is quite dreadful, and not the sort that any 40ish guy with prospects would want as a wife.
- Decent Bloke, UK, 04/02/2011 23:14
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If you sexualise,you trivialise...Parliament is not a place to be taking your knickers off
- David, london, 04/02/2011 22:59
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Well, I thought there had been some progress in the britt's minds but no, it seems that you are still the same conservative puritan people as always.
Vulgar? I'm still trying to find what could be vulgar in this image. I think she's pretty, sexy, and brings a little breeze of freshness to a very primitive and tight-assed UK bunch of politicos.
- Mark, Santiago, Chile, 04/02/2011 22:25
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We should be seeing John next !!!!!
- Davey-buoy, Chertsey, 04/02/2011 21:12
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I watch PM's Questions here in the States on C-span. Is she married to the guy that sits in the middle and tells the attendees if they are in or out of order? He needs to go home and tell his wife - she is indeed out of order. She is 40 years old and making decisions a 20 year old would make. From her statements of what attracts her to a man - I just looked up the husband's picture - he doesn't fit the bill. God, what was she thinking?? I'm guessing, she thinks she is pretty fabulous and special. Sally, grow up and while your at it - cover it up.
- Cindy Baumhover, Iowa, USA, 04/02/2011 21:05
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The odds have actually lengthened, not shortened, if the report is to be believed. Which ironically means that bookies actually think it less likely he will be gone by the end of the year. So its either the complete opposit of what they are trying to say or the author (and editor) don't understand odds and what they mean. Or the numbers are simply untrue.
- Hugh Janus, Nottingham, UK, 04/02/2011 20:20
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Ridiculous and embarrassing - that is if your husband is the House of Commons Speaker. Otherwise, simply boring. But how insulting to Carla Bruni and how incredibly self-important.
- Catherine, London, 04/02/2011 19:26
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It seems that only critical comments pass through the filters. In my opinion is good news to know that these people is human, not wax museum pieces. If she's fired, I bet there will be a queue of big sports cars and RR's awaiting her at the door.
- Josip, Venezuela, 04/02/2011 18:57
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Hmmm not a bad photo really.
- stuart, chesterfield,derbyshire, 04/02/2011 18:55
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Well what can I say she looks rather fetching.
- Dave, Glos, 04/02/2011 18:43
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Ghastly woman, ghastly couple. They are an embarrassment to his office as speaker. Can't we have a decent speaker with or without a wife ? She is just a passenger.
- Michael, London, UK, 04/02/2011 18:29
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Vulgar, common and tacky.
- Jane, London, 04/02/2011 18:08
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Lets ignore the silly B
- Nigel, Crowborough, 04/02/2011 17:35
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It is time to get rid of those in our society without a Moral Compass. Starting from the Top!
- TellTruth, London, 04/02/2011 13:39
How is it then that some politicians can be serial adulterers with children (allegedly)born to their misteresses which they do not have the decency to acknowledge publicly or on the child's birth certificate? And all this whilst keeping one of the highest offices in the land?
Furore over a non-elected, non entity in a bedsheet, but yet there's crass hypochrisy when it comes to a certain tussle-haired politician who repeatedly cheats on his wife and four children.
Can someone explain why there's no clamour for his resignation?
What makes his behaviour suitable for a man of high office?
- fresh, London, 04/02/2011 17:10
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she seems to have inherited cherie blair's mantle for vulgarity and crassness
- mick, london uk, 04/02/2011 16:53
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"I should be a wife who walks dutifully three paces behind my husband and keeps her mouth shut and makes cucumber sandwiches?"
Are you supposed to be one stop short of a ho?
- Tom, London, 04/02/2011 16:45
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What IS the fuss about? She is no more 'naked' than any woman wearing a normal dress.
- clive burton, London, England, 04/02/2011 16:25
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"I was probably stupid to do it".
YES DEAR YOU WERE........adds nicely to the sleaze Parliament wallows in.
- Mr Passa SickBag, London, England, 04/02/2011 16:09
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So that's what Labour activists do with their time. Must be Ed Milliband's way of trying to attract disillusioned Liberal Democrats to his party.
- Janet, London, UK, 04/02/2011 15:57
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After reading this article I think she thinks she's another Katey Price.....
- Lenny, Waringstown, 04/02/2011 15:56
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She lives thanks to the British tax payers, on her husband's work. She's no longer an immature girl and should behave as a responsible person. It's a shame she's on an important British newspaper's cover. Had she been in the show business no body would have interviewed her.
- Oscar, Majorca, Balearic Islands, 04/02/2011 15:49
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In terms of publicity-seeking, I'd rate her as low as Jeremy Clarkson (but at least he does it in his own "right").....
- Duchess of Malfi, London, England, 04/02/2011 15:38
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Got any other pictures? Getting a bit bored of that one...
- Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one, 04/02/2011 15:28
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I think she looks rather nice but there again I have just lunched extremely well. Petrus anyone?
- Steve, Brentford, 04/02/2011 15:27
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Remove her husband from the position of Speaker and let her prance all she wants.
I am becoming sick and tired of our MP's and their groans regarding their apparent inadequate pay as well as the stupidity of their relatives ie. Bercow. Get rid of them and let's see how they cry and carry on when their excessive pay and inflated ego's take a dent. Then, they can embarrass themselves as much as they want instead of being an embarrassment for the people of Great Britain.
However, is it about time we brought back Guy Fawkes?
- Mike, Sutton, 04/02/2011 15:27
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What a tart! Have her out of there as quickly as possible
- David, Twickenham, 04/02/2011 15:25
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Bookies today cut odds on Mr Bercow leaving his position by the end of 2011 from 3/1 to 7/2.
yours for a 10er....
- Richard, London, 04/02/2011 15:16
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Would you give her one?
(btw not being sexist, that's the sort of remark she's deliberately provoking, both of them should be ashamed)
- Mr T, London, 04/02/2011 14:59
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I hear that, in the next movie, John Bercow is to play the important part of James Bond Daniel Craig is playing the rest of him...........
- Chris, Bridgend, 04/02/2011 14:58
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"....The trouble is, because I'm married to the Speaker, whatever I do is put in the media and used to get at him." Yes, dear sister, and if you weren't married to the Speaker, no-one would take a blind bit of notice. You should be ashamed of yourself, capitalising on your husband's role (and demeaning it at the same time). This is 2011, for heaven's sake, not 1950s Carry On Britain. And shame on the Evening Standard for printing this guff - what's YOUR agenda, might one ask.
- sallyp, London, England, 04/02/2011 14:56
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Desperate Housewife
- Chris, Bridgend, 04/02/2011 14:50
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She demands to be able to "do her own thing"
Quite right in this age of sexual equality
But she needs to support her husband in his chosen career if he is to succeed
She needs to choose which she desires most
- rodgray, berwick, 04/02/2011 14:44
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And suddenly, as John Lennon would have put it, the Bercows are now bigger than Jesus Christ (but thankfully not the Beatles)!
- Warren, Edmonton, 04/02/2011 14:15
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Is it usual in this country for the wives of important men to pose, clad only in a bed sheet? I have studied English matters for a long time but cannot recall seeing Mrs Major, the lovely Cherie Blair, or Gordon Brown's beloved in such poses. What is more Denis Thatcher never, to my knowledge, posed in his pyjamas. What are we to make of the rather delectable Mrs Bercow and her complaisant husband?
- MiguelM, Old Isleworth, 04/02/2011 14:06
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Oh for heaven's sake love, put your old mutton away. Yuck yuck and thrice yuck. How embarrassing !
- jb, sussex, 04/02/2011 14:04
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Id sooner read about her than Jordan, Price ...or whatever her name is this week. One very foxy lady getting rid of all the stuffiness in the Westminster village
- Johnty, w g c uk, 04/02/2011 14:00
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I know my comment will be seen as sexist, but I am 59 so I hope it will be taken in the manner in which it is meant. I happen to be one of those who think Salley Bercow is rather horny. So there I've said it and am now waiting for the PC police to come for me.
- Gerry, Chatham, Kent UK, 04/02/2011 13:55
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It is time to get rid of those in our society without a Moral Compass. Starting from the Top!
- TellTruth, London, 04/02/2011 13:39
I've got a quite a list of people who have power but no moral compass.Where would you like me to start?
- Nora Kane, London, 04/02/2011 13:53
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Can't believe the Standard even printed this interview + picture with her.. Where have the 'standards' of this paper gone or are there any??
- Sarah, Tooting, 04/02/2011 13:50
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She is a disgrace! She demeans our Liberty, especially the 'Rights' of women to be taken seriously! If her husband were a Gentleman, he would resign! It is time to get rid of those in our society without a Moral Compass. Starting from the Top!
- TellTruth, London, 04/02/2011 13:39
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MC from Oxon and Weybrisge resident, I concur: she is gorgeous, funny and charismatic as all hell. Can't see Bercow hanging on to her too much longer. All that leg and personality as well...
- Indiana Beeblebrox, Glasgow, UK, 04/02/2011 13:28
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So what is Weybridge Resident saying - that all who criticize this silly woman must be a Tory?!
- Upnorth, Morecambe, 04/02/2011 13:22
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So what is Weybridge Resident saying - that all who criticize this silly woman must be a Tory?!
- Upnorth, Morecambe, 04/02/2011 13:21
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She's loving this. Oh please look at me. please please LOOK AT ME!!!
- Alex C, London, 04/02/2011 13:12
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I still think she is gorgeous.
- MC, South Oxon, 04/02/2011 13:11
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My first thought was 'how undignified'. How stupid is this woman? She has made herself and her husband an joke.
- heathers, London, 04/02/2011 13:04
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She's probably a Jordan wannabe.
Is her husband a cage fighter by any chance?
- Nora Kane, London, 04/02/2011 12:55
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If she does get off on anything else, she must get off on undermining her husband and the role he holds because she does it a lot.
- Miah, London, 04/02/2011 12:52
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Is her husband a glove puppet?
- Peter Woods, Torre Chianca, 04/02/2011 12:48
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Gorbals Mick dragged the reputation of speaker into the gutter. Bercow and his vacuous wife have gone one step further and dragged it into the sewer.
- R.F.Yorke, Yorks, UK, 04/02/2011 12:47
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"I am a personality. I've got ambitions of my own and it was just meant to be a bit of fun."
sounds like something you would expect jordan to say....what a pair...
- Richard, London, 04/02/2011 12:47
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She's gorgeous.
The Tories on this site are sticking the axe in.
If it was Samantha Cameron in just a sheet, they'd be squealing in delight.
- Weybridge Resident, Weybridge, Surrey, 04/02/2011 12:47
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Another Beggar on Horseback.
- an immoderate but realistic analyst, london, 04/02/2011 12:45
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"Baaaaaaaaaah!"
She's a Labour plant... a stooge, one of the Marx Bros Comedy team!!
- Mr I Grumble, Poor Old Geezer Inheritor of Labour Incompetence & Con-Lib-Dem Liquid-Backboned England UK, 04/02/2011 12:43
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That Bercow woman, is just a joke!
- bouncermoss, leith, 04/02/2011 12:39
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Bercow, she's a joke!
- bouncermoss, leith, 04/02/2011 12:33
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So she's either an idiot or an embarassment. She can't be both and neither reflects very well on her husband. As for being a 'personality' that is solely due to being married to the speaker! If Michelle Obama or Samantha Cameron were to do the same would that be acceptable?
- Mark, London, 04/02/2011 12:33
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Reminds me of the many Royal portraits by Sir Peter Kelner of Charles II mistresses. This could be the 'Duchess of Richmond'or 'Portsmouth'. The Standard could fairly be accused of 'sexing up' the article on the everyday life of a pretty mundane wife.
- dhan raj, basildon, 04/02/2011 12:31
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Please make this obnoxious person go away.
- James, Knaresborough, 04/02/2011 12:29
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