A recall petition is taking place in Wellingborough, a constituency of the United Kingdom House of Commons, following the suspension of its MP, Peter Bone, a former minister in the Conservative Government, from Parliament on 25 October 2023. MPs voted to suspend Bone after the parliamentary watchdog, the Independent Expert Panel, had upheld complaints of bullying and sexual misconduct against Bone, and recommended a six-week suspension. The length of his suspension automatically triggered a recall petition in his constituency.[1]

The petition period is 8 November–19 December 2023. If at least 10% of voters in the constituency sign, Bone will be removed as Wellingborough's MP and a by-election will be called to fill the seat.

Background

An employee of Bone's made a complaint through the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme in October 2021.[2][3] That led to an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who upheld five allegations relating to bullying and harassment, and one of sexual misconduct.[4] Bone appealed against the findings and the recommended suspension, which were both upheld, and so a report to the house was made by the Independent Expert Panel on 16 October 2023 recommending his suspension for six weeks.[3]

The Independent Expert Panel report found Bone had "committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct" against a male member of his staff.[5][6] The report stated that, having booked a single room for the two of them on a work trip in 2013, Bone had "dropped his towel and exposed his genitals close to his employee's face" while they were in the bathroom,[7] and went on to expose himself to the complainant in their shared bedroom. Following that trip, Bone ostracised the complainant.[3] Bone was also found to have pressured the man into massaging him when they were alone in the office, and to have thrown objects or struck him on a number of occasions.[7][4]

Bone denied the allegations in the report, stating the claims listed were "false and untrue" and "without foundation". He also said that the investigation by the IEP was "flawed" and "procedurally unfair".[8][9]

On 17 October, the Conservative Party withdrew the whip, suspending him from his membership of the Parliamentary Conservative Party.[10][11]

Following a vote, Bone was suspended from the House of Commons on 25 October 2023 for six weeks,[12] therefore triggering a recall petition under the provisions of the Recall of MPs Act 2015. The Guardian estimate that, were the recall successful, a by-election would likely be held in February 2024.[13]

Recall petition

The petition period is 8 November–19 December 2023. During this period registered voters in the constituency are able to sign at one of nine designated petition signing places between 9am and 5pm Monday–Friday, with extended signing hours on 13 November. Voters registered for postal or proxy ballots can also sign by these means. The threshold for a successful petition has been determined to be 7,904 signatures.[14]

If at any point in this period Bone vacates the seat, or a general election is called, the recall will be halted and the petition ended.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "MP Peter Bone suspended from Commons for bullying". BBC News. BBC. 25 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  2. ↑ Gibbons, Amy (16 October 2023). "Tory MP Peter Bone exposed himself to staffer in Madrid hotel room". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Conduct of Mr Peter Bone MP" (PDF). parliament.uk. The Independent Expert Panel. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  4. 1 2 Mitchell, Archie (16 October 2023). "Tory MP 'exposed himself to staff member and trapped him in hotel bathroom'". The Independent. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Stacey, Kiran (16 October 2023). "Tory MP Peter Bone hit and abused staff member, watchdog says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "Independent Expert Panel recommends suspending Peter Bone MP for bullying and sexual misconduct". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  7. 1 2 Stacey, Kiran (16 October 2023). "Tory MP Peter Bone hit and abused staff member, watchdog says". The Guardian.
  8. ↑ Bone, Peter [@PeterBoneUK] (October 16, 2023). "Below is my statement on the publication of the IEP report today" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ "Peter Bone: Tory MP facing suspension after bullying probe". BBC News. 16 October 2023.
  10. ↑ "Peter Bone suspended as Tory MP after bullying probe". BBC News. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Brown, Faye (17 October 2023). "Peter Bone: Tory MP kicked out of parliamentary party after bullying and sexual misconduct allegations". Sky News. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  12. ↑ "Commons business 25 October 2023".
  13. ↑ Allegretti, Aubrey (2023-10-25). "Labour looks to force byelection after Tory MP Peter Bone is suspended". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  14. ↑ "Recall petition – Wellingborough constituency | North Northamptonshire Council". www.northnorthants.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  15. ↑ Library, House of Commons (2018-08-10). "The first use of a 'recall petition' in the UK". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
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