We’re not talking about being unable to remember a date for a course undertaken or slightly changing the result of a task you actually undertook in a previous role to highlight the positive outcome more favourably, no, this was not just any lie.

This was your diamond studded, gold encrusted M&S kind of lie.

Back in 1994 Sally [Illman] applied for a role with City PR firm Consolidated Communications with a supporting CV claiming she had attained a degree from Oxford; the boss of the firm Alastair Gornall claims that was the deciding factor in her recruitment.

After Consolidated Communications did some checking to confirm Ms Illman’s status the firm were told by Oxford University that no such degree had been issued as the student had dropped out after 2 years. Former students recall how she neglected her studies in favour of socialising.

Mr Gornall challenged his new recruit and following an angry exchange in which he accused her of lying, he subsequently fired her.

Yesterday a spokesman for Mrs Bercow insisted she had never knowingly lied about her academic achievements. He blamed ‘confusion’ that may have arisen when her academic details were passed to Consolidated by a head-hunting firm.

Confusion? In this instance what does that mean? The CV has to be clear it either says the candidate has a degree or it doesn’t, there is no half-way house. That is, unless you are deliberately trying to deceive as it would seem Ms Illman was.

The spokesman continued: ‘In the CV she said she was at Oxford from 1988 to 1990. Anyone could work out that is two years and not three. Nor did the CV say she had completed her degree. She never gave the impression, either verbally or in written form, that she had completed her degree at Oxford.’

Mrs Bercow studied theology in her first year, then switched to history. However, towards the end of her second year, university authorities became concerned that she was neglecting her studies.

They told her to take a year out to ‘get her head together’. She left – but never returned.

In addition to changing her mind on her studies from theology to history to drop-out she also switched her political allegiance in an attempt to find her true mind. Shortly before leaving Oxford, Ms Illman (once a Conservative) joined the Liberal Democrats, later returning to the Tories but by 1997 she had defected to Labour.

It would seem that with an early sign of a lack of integrity Mrs Bercow was always destined to represent the PLP though with dedication and loyalty such as that displayed by Mrs Bercow I pity the electorate of Westminster should she gain the seat at the forthcoming General Election.

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