John Bercow isn’t alone in being a bullying boss

A bellowing voice, casual misogyny and form for using his mobile as a shotput – it seems former House of Commons speaker John Bercow’s list of misdemeanours followed a well-worn template for the workplace bully.

As someone who seemed to have revelled in the pomp and status of his role, a parliamentary life ban handed down as punishment after an independent inquiry into his behaviour will hit hard despite his protestations to the contrary. Meanwhile, the outcome is some validation and retribution for his former colleagues whose working lives were blighted by his rants and tantrums, forever at the whim of one man’s mood and abuse of power.

Written in black and white, the particulars of Bercow’s case – including physically blocking people from leaving the room seem so oddly anachronistic in our cancel-heavy culture, in which offence can be caused by the most innocuous move and comment. It’s a reminder that there’s actually a lot of noise and hot air in more progressive working environments and that the rhetoric doesn’t always translate into reality. Indeed, old-school bullying is still very much alive and well – 23 per cent of the British workforce has been bullied at work according to small business loan broker and lender, SME loans, while a quarter have been made to feel excluded from the wider team. And plenty of perpetrators will never face the scrutiny Bercow finally has, especially in small businesses if they happen to be paymaster and the HR department as well and their conduct is rarely questioned yet alone appraised with any impartiality.

In my experience, there are two types of bullies in the workplace; those who are unequivocally vile and brazen with it, entirely unconcerned by how they come across, so at least you know where you stand… The other is a more subtle beast – the full scope of their autocracy is generally a slower burn revelation which can make the eventual toxicity all the more shocking and unpleasant for those on the receiving end.

In the case of the latter, you’re generally dealing with a strong personality, one which initially manifests in quite a positive, even charming way – outgoing, confident, quick to laugh with all signs suggesting they will be fun to work for. Actually, they often can be – just as long as you’re in the gang, playing the part they expect and laughing at their jokes which are usually at someone’s expense. Control and manipulation are always there bubbling away under a light-hearted exterior, and it never takes much to flick the switch.

I remember one such example when I was part of a small team where the working environment was initially very positive; easy collective chat and a drama-free coexistence in an attractive, old building in a small rural village. The change coincided with one of the boss’ long spells “working” from his Spanish villa, during a UK heatwave that saw the rest of the team office-bound with faulty air conditioning blasting out tepid air. Meanwhile, windows had to stay shut because of an untreated wasp’s nest outside.

It was hot, oppressive and getting harder to concentrate so I mentioned the situation a couple of times on the weekly catch-up calls when he was in Spain. It seemed quite an obvious and reasonable point to make in the circumstances. I didn’t really give it much further thought and wasn’t to know at the time that I had inadvertently entered “difficult woman” territory and the black mark was made. The faulty unit was fixed, but relations had started to sour, perhaps there was more to it, but on his return, the jokey, amenable persona had given away to something more aloof in his dealings with me, while he mustered the usual enthusiasm with the others.

There had been signs of vindictiveness before which I’ll admit were easy to overlook when you’re not a direct target. It was an entirely unspoken rule that his presence in the office always dictated the mood, whether we were going to chat freely or be quiet if he was irritated and not feeling sociable. His was an easy dominance given agency by weaker, passive sidekicks, laughing along with his casual, indiscreet remarks like the time he dismissed a forty-something woman he had just recruited for an office manager role as “pretty old” when asked what she like.

The balding pushing 60-something with a pot belly had some interesting descriptions for me too which is why the business with John Bercow and its sexist undertones resonated as it will for many of those who have experienced something similar. It became apparent that my raising of issues that were important ie, working in an illegal temperature had been reframed as “constant moaning” in turn feeding into the common, sexist stereotype of the nagging female. Meanwhile, my size 12 frame had become a slightly surprising stick to beat me with – as I became known simply as “fat b****” – not to my face but behind my back in emails he shared with another two colleagues in our small team. All of this material was easily accessible on his computer which the wider team had access to when checking emails in his absence. So, while the taunts may not have been screamed in my face the effect was just as undermining and obviously offensive.

I sought legal advice and was let down by an uninspired provincial solicitor who gave me 15 minutes of her time in an extended reception area, told me little could be done and charged £400 for the privilege. Apparently, I had very little recourse, because in effect, I’d been looking at someone else’s emails and however offensive the material, I was also at fault.

Later, when writing on law for a national paper and interviewing some of the country’s finest legal minds, for a story with a similar theme, I discovered that advice was way off the mark. The situation was far from black and white and at the very least as an employee I had the right to request a Subject Access Request, which requires the employer to disclose any emails or work-related social media referencing the individual which could then be used as evidence in a tribunal.

Employees can feel very vulnerable when on the receiving end of employer misconduct from the Bercows of this world. Being made aware of every possible resource and option available to them to tackle it and take back some power can make a huge difference to the outcomes. My tormentor had a lucky escape.