John Bercow has said accusations he "brutalised" parliamentary staff and politicians are "total and utter rubbish".
In an interview with Sky News, the former speaker of the House of Commons called former Black Rod David Leakey, who made the accusations in late January, "completely and utterly ignorant".
Mr Leakey, who was Black Rod until February 2018, accused Mr Bercow of bullying him over the years and said several highly-ranked parliamentary staff and politicians told him privately they were bullied by Mr Bercow.
In his first broadcast interview since the accusations were made, Mr Bercow told Sky News that the claims were "total and utter rubbish from start to finish".
He said: "First point is that David Leakey didn't work for me, he wasn't employed by me, he wasn't employed by the House of Commons.
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"He worked in and was protocol officer of the House of Lords. He is in absolutely no position whatsoever to comment on my relations with my parliamentary colleagues, of which he is completely and utterly ignorant.
"He doesn't know what my relationship was with my clerks. He has absolutely no intelligence on those matters whatsoever.
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"What we have here is a person who had left the house, is thrashing about, desperate to remain relevant, popping up at every turn, trying to make himself seem very important, centre stage, at the heart of things in the way I went about my work."
Mr Bercow added that he only saw Mr Leakey "three or four times a year over a period of years, mainly in relation to or preparation for ceremonial events."
The former speaker added: "As I said two years ago, or in May 2018, we were very different people from very different backgrounds with very different mindsets.
"We had an argument in 2011, May to be precise, and an argument in June 2012.
"There's plenty of footage of me chatting happily to him on state occasions, the day of the Queen's Speech every year.
"We got along perfectly adequately after 2012.
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