Andrea Leadsom says the only person she’d tell to ‘f— off’ is John Bercow in resignation speech – Telegraph.co.uk

Andrea Leadsom used her Commons resignation speech to deliver a parting shot at John Bercow, joking that he was the only politician she would tell to "f--- off".

The former business secretary who regularly sparred with the ex-Speaker in the Commons also said the Brexit referendum result was as good as Mr Bercow's face when she reprimanded him for calling her "a stupid woman".

In a personal statement after Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs Leadsom recalled her first rebellion against a three-line whip when she joined 80 other Tory rebels to vote for a referendum on EU membership in 2011.

She said this led to "media speculation" that she had told the former chancellor George Osborne to "f--- off".

Well, I can assure you that there's only one person to whom I might be tempted to provide such frank advice, and that wouldn't include any former or current chancellor and certainly not any current speaker," she said.

She added that the result of the EU referendum in June 2016 was "right up there with England winning the World Cup for rugby 16 years ago".

And she said: "It's right up there with the look on John Bercows face when I told him to apologise for calling me a stupid woman, and it is a bit behind the happiness of my wedding day."

Mrs Leadsom, who was one of the first casualties of last month's Cabinet reshuffle, added that she believed Boris Johnson was "the right person to seize the opportunities that await us outside the EU" and said it was "an honour" to serve as business secretary in his first Cabinet.

She wished her replacement, Alok Sharma, "huge success" as COP president when the UK plays host to the UN climate talks later in the year.

The South Northamptonshire MP said that she would now focus on the issue of early years from the backbenches.

She said: "When the Prime Minister asked me to step aside, he also gave me his word that he will enable me to take forward the early years work and I am delighted that the wheels are in motion.

"And I want to heartily congratulate him and Carrie for their decision to do their own bit of early years research."

Mr Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds announced this weekend that they are engaged and expecting a baby in the early summer.

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Andrea Leadsom says the only person she'd tell to 'f--- off' is John Bercow in resignation speech - Telegraph.co.uk