Bucks MP and House of Commons Speaker John Bercow rejects bullying claims

Buckingham MP John Bercow - pictuted here at the Winslow Beer Festival - rejects the claims

The claims come after an investigation by BBC Two’s Newsnight programme which spoke to dozens of female workers who described aggressive and threatening behaviour.

Among those accused of bullying was Speaker John Bercow, the MP for nearby Buckingham, whose private secretary left her job in 2011.

Bercow flatly denies any allegation he behaved in such a manner, “either eight years ago, or at any other time” - as reported by the BBC.

Bercow in his role as Speaker of the House of Commons

“Any suggestion to the contrary is simply untrue,” a spokesman told the BBC.

Newsnight has been investigating claims of bullying and harassment by MPs and one of the stories that has emerged was that of Kate Emms - who worked as a private secretary to Mr Bercow, starting in mid-2010.

Colleagues who spoke to Newsnight claimed that Mr Bercow had shouted at her and undermined her in front of other staff. This left her unable to continue working in what was a key Commons post, they said.

Two other MPs named in the investigation were Labour’s Paul Farrelly and Conservative Mark Pritchard.