SPEAKER John Bercow is facing the loss of his seat at the next election after the Tories said they would break with tradition and field a candidate against him.
Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom, who has had numerous run-ins with the Buckingham MP, claimed he had “broken” Commons rules to help fellow Remainers on Brexit.
The move is retribution for Mr Bercow allowing the procedure whereby MPs took over the Commons last week and passed an emergency law designed to block no-deal.
The move, coupled with the opposition’s refusal to grant Boris Johnson’s demand for an early election, threw the Prime Minister’s Brexit strategy into disarray.
Mr Bercow has also made public statements criticising the government.
Last month, he told an Edinburgh Fringe event he would fight any attempt to shut down parliament "with every bone in my body", then called it a "constitutional outrage" when Boris Johnson secured a prorogation of five weeks.
Traditionally, most parties stand aside on polling day for a “Speaker seeking re-election”.
However in an article for the Mail on Sunday, Ms Leadsom said her party would oppose Mr Bercow because he had “failed” the country by allowing a “flagrant abuse” of process.
She wrote: “As an MP, a Minister and a former Leader of the Commons, I fully respect and appreciate the role of the Speaker. But last week, the current Speaker failed us.
“In allowing MPs to use Standing Order No 24 – an important procedure whereby MPs can debate urgent issues – as a route to taking over the Parliamentary timetable and giving power to the Opposition, the Speaker hasn’t just bent the rules, he has broken them.
“So it is right that the Conservatives will recognise this fact at the next General Election by standing our candidate against him in Buckingham.”
She went on: “Parliamentary procedure is centuries old. The process of having a first, second and third reading is a tool to protect the public.
“What we saw on Tuesday was a flagrant abuse of this process.
"The Standing Order No 24 that the Opposition proposed wasn’t appropriate for a Motion.
“It was intended to ram through legislation for purely political motives.
"The use of Standing Order No 24 in this way will lead to the creation of bad laws.
"This is a route to the diminution of our democracy, which is why the Prime Minister is now calling for a General Election. Bring it on, I say, and bring back an impartial Speaker.”
Mr Bercow, 56, was elected as a Tory MP in 1997 and became Speaker in June 2009, when he was obliged to shed his party allegiance.
Buckingham is one of the most Conservative seats in the country, and he would struggle were he to seek re-election in a properly fought contest.
The last time he stood on a party ticket, in 2005, the Tories took 57.4 per cent of the vote to win with a majority of 18,129 over Labour.
Last year, the Speaker apologised after claims he called Ms Leadsom a "stupid woman".
Mr Bercow has been challenged before for his seat.
In 2010, then Ukip leader Nigel Farage won more than 10,000 votes in the seat.
Other speakers have also been challenged in the past.
The SNP stood against Speaker Michael Martin in Glasgow in 2001 and 2005.
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