John Bercow was active in the Conservative Party from a young age and was a Conservative councillor, for Lambeth, from 1986 to 1990. He stood as a candidate to become an MP at the 1987 and 1992 General Elections but was not successful. At the 1997 General Election, Bercow was elected the Conservative MP for Buckingham. He served in the shadow cabinets of Iain Duncan Smith and Michael Howard. After the Speaker Michael Martin resigned on 22 June 2009, Bercow was elected as the Speaker.