Sally Bercow on BB.....does she, or any spouse, have a duty to their spouses job/role?

She's a feminist, is she? And she wants to get important messages across?

I thought she worked until she was sacked. Or is that wrong?

VG I think you can support both viewpoints. Just because you support her right to do as she wants doesn't mean you can't seriously question her character for wanting to appear on BB in the first place.

I'm not sure what you are shocked at.

And I'm not talking about expectations of a wife. That's so narrow. I would have expectations of relatives, family members. If she was arsing around for publicity on the back of her sister, I'd have the same opinion. And my opinion wouldn;'t be altered by the viewpoint of her sister.

I don't care. I do care that she's a feminist and her husband supports that. I very much like that she gained a feminist platform courtesy of her husband's job (because the world's the way it is, currently, we have to work our benefits for good) and that her husband supports her to be herself which, imo, is even better than the husband standing on the feminist soapbox with her.

In her position, I wouldn't go on BB - and I suspect it will turn out to be a mistake. But she's not a fool, afaict. BB does seals with contestants. Then they try to wriggle out of their deals. Maybe she is, actually, going to come out of with her dignity in shreds but a few important messages communicated?

I dunno. I don't watch it. But she's already achieved one significan aim, hasn't she? We're all talking about it

Hang on Dilys - is Sally Bercow not a SAHM? Miriam G-D and Cherie Booth might have had 'proper jobs' but they weren't jobs in which either would become a celebrity.

(ermm, lead their own lives - I am not advocating euthanasia for even the most irritating political spouses)

Fair enough. But I'm shocked, both at that and that the role of Speaker of the House of Commons has enough cache to sustain two careers!

I'm not keen on her because she clearly has been invited on BB in her capacity as Speaker's Wife. If she was just Sally Smith the postman's wife then a career as a micro-sleb would be out of the question.

Big difference between her and Miriam Gonzales or indeed Herr Doktor Professor Merkel (I forget his correct title), or even Cherie Booth QC, who have proper jobs of their own, and are fully entitled to leave their own lives.

There is no 'shouldn't' about it. Bercow is free to choose, as she should be.

The fact that she has chosen to pose semi-naked and go on a brainless tv show and squeeze as much trashy publicity for herself as she can purely because of her husband's job, signifies someone with no integrity to me.

She doesn't give a shit about my opinion. I don't think she 'shouldn't' do it. But that is what her choices and actions show me.

What you said more succinctly, Victor! Sounds like pointydog has more traditional expectations of a Wife than John Bercow does ... Sally chose well :)

But from what you've written, pointydog, it sounds like she shouldn't do whatever it is that she is doing. She's gone on Big Brother, she tweets, she did a bit of a daft pose in some curtains and she doesn't agree with her husband politically. Is that really all it takes to indicate a sleazy person with no integrity or dignity? Because if it does then I will confess to being shocked.

Her husband doesn't seem to have any issue with it at all, and does that sort of thing that really disrespect his job?

Hmm, pointy, I agree with you in principle but wouldn't be so judgemental. People are as barmy & diverse as people are, with all our weaknesses ... and at least the Bercows demonstrate a level of mutual individuality that is in short supply, especially in Westminster life. I give them a wide margin of credit for that, and for being bright & sassy (both of them) even though I disagree with most of what they (individually or as a couple) say and do.

Oh yeah, she's sleazy, no integrity, little dignity. The only reason people have the slightest idea who she is, is beacause of who her husband is. The only reason she can make money from this, is because of who she's married too.

If that is the only reason you enjoy some minor sort of easy, dumb, modern celebrity, then you should have a little respect for your husband, for his job and for your own self-worth.

So she hasn't divulged state secrets then? I think that would probably be the only thing that could reflect on her husband. Of course, she might well be an arse, but she'll be judged as an arse because she's an arse, not because she's not stayed at home and kept shtum. The arse stands alone...

I don't know why she's agreed to do something as daft and potentially self damaging as BB, but I don't perceive it as marital betrayal. IF her going on BB makes her husband a laughing stock, then that's a feminist issue. Sally is not some wayward appendage of her husband, she's free to make her own decisions (as long as she doesn't betray professional confidences.)

My husband didn't want me to have a male stripogram at my fundraiser, but I did anyway. Undignified, but none of his damn business (I assure you that male strippers aren't exploited sex slaves, btw.)

I'm starting to worry that I've thrown my weight behind someone awful. Is Sally Bercow so awful that her husband is a laughing stock? I know about the posing in the curtains photoshoot, and I know she's Labour and he's Tory, but they aren't bad? Is it these things that she's judged for (not here, I mean in general). She seems totally regular on Twitter - takes the piss out of the Daily Mail, tells trolls to fuck off, etc.

Exactly, sunshineandbooks.

I don't think she has a duty to behave a certain way because her spouse has a particular job, but she does seem to a lack of respect for his wishes. I think in a marriage each person has to take into account of how the other one feels, and act accordingly. If I really didn't want DH to do something, I hope he would respect that, and if he really didn't want me to do something (although he is so laid back, I can't imagine what that would be!) then I would listen to him.

If her husband was the local postman, and didn't want her in the BB house, she wouldn't come over as the strong, independent, individual....she'd just look like someone who didn't give a flying feck about her husband.

I'm going to sit on the fence. She isn't morally obligated to consider her husband in everything she says or does. But at the same time I think it is a sign of a decent human being (male or female) to consider how our behaviour reflects on those associated with you. That should never cause you to betray your true self or to behave in a way that is unnatural, but just means you behave as a decent person - just as I wouldn't turn up at my DC's school and behave in a way that would embarrass them and make them a laughing stock among their friends.

I like the way the Bercows epitomise a mutually respectful relationship. They seem absolutely clear that each admires the others' individuality. I think that's an important (and rare) message to receive from public figures.

More generally: yes, partners do need to have regard for one another's profession. If Sally went around divulging State secrets, I'd love it she'd be disrespecting the marriage and damaging her husband's life. If you were about to do a deal in your business and your partner told your competitor, he'd be acting against you.

Denis Thatcher managed to stroll along, making millions, without compromising his wife's career but - in response to Cherrypi above - her son failed to act with sufficient detachment, and was much criticised for it. I agree there's more criticism of S. Bercow, but isn't that just because the media love to hate a self-promotig woman?

There does seem to be some slightly worrying disobeying her husband undertones in the media discussion of this. Would there be as much coverage if the genders were reversed?

I follow her on twitter and she just seems like a fairly regular person. I like a good judge as much as anyone else but judging that someone can't acheive anything without her husband is going too far. Go Sally!

I don't have a TV (crappy building with no aerial rather than highbrow opt-out) so I have no way of judging Sally Bercow for myself, but the AIBU thread is watching Big Brother for me and the overwhelming majority verdict is that she'd be 'nowhere without her husband' (which I think SB's cheerfully admitted anyway - well, not nowhere but probably not on Big Brother). So I now want her to win!

Having said that, I think Sally Becow is an attention-seeking twat but have no opinion either way on her H.