Sam:)
19-08-2011, 11:44 AM
Mrs Bercow, whose husband and former Tory MP John has been Commons Speaker since 2009, is one of 11 contestants taking part in the Channel 5 reality show, which launched on last night to a peak of 6 Million Viewers.
Bercow is being urged to give some of the money she is earning to appear on Celebrity Big Brother to the taxpayer.
She is donating £100,000 of her £150,000 fee to charity, paying £20,000 to publicist Max Clifford and keeping the remaining £30,000.
MP Kate Hoey said Mrs Bercow was not paying rent on the apartment in Parliament in which her family lives.
As a "public figure", Mrs Bercow should contribute to its cost, she argued.
By tradition, the Commons Speaker and their family live in a grace-and-favour apartment - known as Speaker's House - within the Palace of Westminster.
Some MPs have been pressing for the Speaker, who earns about £146,000 for his dual role as Commons figurehead and constituency MP, to pay rent on the apartment.
Miss Hoey, who represents Vauxhall, in south London, told BBC News: "If she is earning that amount of money, why should taxpayers - and my hard-pressed constituents - contribute to her living in rent-free accommodation?"
"If she is a public figure, why is she not contributing to the cost of her accommodation?"
But Mr Clifford dismissed the Labour MP's criticism, saying: "This grace-and-favour accommodation is her husband's.
"Would Kate Hoey prefer it if she moved out of there with her three children?"
He added: "I am a Labour supporter, but it doesn't really bear too much looking at."
Mr Clifford described Mrs Bercow as a "socialist" and said she expected to be attacked for appearing on Big Brother by "traditional Tories".
I don't watch Big Brother and I am even less likely to do so if she is on it”
Mrs Bercow was not receiving as much money for appearing on Big Brother as Kerry Katona, another of Mr Clifford's clients, who is being paid £300,000, while singing duo Jedward are receiving £500,000, claimed Max.
Bercow is being urged to give some of the money she is earning to appear on Celebrity Big Brother to the taxpayer.
She is donating £100,000 of her £150,000 fee to charity, paying £20,000 to publicist Max Clifford and keeping the remaining £30,000.
MP Kate Hoey said Mrs Bercow was not paying rent on the apartment in Parliament in which her family lives.
As a "public figure", Mrs Bercow should contribute to its cost, she argued.
By tradition, the Commons Speaker and their family live in a grace-and-favour apartment - known as Speaker's House - within the Palace of Westminster.
Some MPs have been pressing for the Speaker, who earns about £146,000 for his dual role as Commons figurehead and constituency MP, to pay rent on the apartment.
Miss Hoey, who represents Vauxhall, in south London, told BBC News: "If she is earning that amount of money, why should taxpayers - and my hard-pressed constituents - contribute to her living in rent-free accommodation?"
"If she is a public figure, why is she not contributing to the cost of her accommodation?"
But Mr Clifford dismissed the Labour MP's criticism, saying: "This grace-and-favour accommodation is her husband's.
"Would Kate Hoey prefer it if she moved out of there with her three children?"
He added: "I am a Labour supporter, but it doesn't really bear too much looking at."
Mr Clifford described Mrs Bercow as a "socialist" and said she expected to be attacked for appearing on Big Brother by "traditional Tories".
I don't watch Big Brother and I am even less likely to do so if she is on it”
Mrs Bercow was not receiving as much money for appearing on Big Brother as Kerry Katona, another of Mr Clifford's clients, who is being paid £300,000, while singing duo Jedward are receiving £500,000, claimed Max.