A Buckingham constituency resident has mounted an internet campaign to demand a by-election if John Bercow is elected MP again.

Phil Harriss, who lives in Brill, started an online petition to the UK Parliament called ‘Give us a voice, not a Speaker!’ and already has over a thousand signatures since it was started.

Mr Harriss believes that when a Speaker is chosen by Parliament, their constituents should be able to elect a new MP. 

In the petition, Mr Harriss said he felt ‘disenfranchised’ at the 2010 election, because typically, the main parties do not stand for election in the Speaker’s constituency.

He said: “At the last election, as a resident in the Buckingham constituency, I had the choice of voting for the Speaker, John Bercow, who has no vote in the House of Commons, or for a collection of right-wing independents or for Nigel Farage of UKIP. Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem and Green candidates did not stand for election.

“At the next general election, how can I persuade my 18-year-old daughter to exercise her democratic right, given the choice of candidates that stand in the Buckingham constituency?”

Mr Harriss hopes to hand the petition to Mr Bercow personally or by email when he reaches 2000 signatures.

A spokesperson for John Bercow said, "We are aware of the petition, which was started about a year ago. However, as far back as 2010, Mr Bercow raised the issue of the Speaker's Seat with the relevant committee of the House on behalf of Buckingham constituency residents. The committee recommended no change.

"To be clear: whilst Mr Bercow is happy to make further representations to the House of Commons, any alteration to the existing arrangement is solely a decision for the House, not Mr Bercow. It is not, and never has been, a matter for the Speaker to decide."

View the petition here.