Peter Bone waits in Downing Street ahead of the final speech from Britain’s outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street in central London on 6 September 2022.
Conservative MP Peter Bone has been ousted by voters in his
Wellingborough constituency after being suspended from parliament over
misconduct allegations. The upcoming by-election, set to take place early next year,
could be the 20th since the last general election in 2019, with the Tories
losing the vast majority of them. Another defeat in Wellingborough would increase pressure on
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of an expected general election in 2024.
Britain’s
ruling Conservatives face another potentially bruising by-election early next
year after voters in a central English constituency ousted its Tory lawmaker
following his suspension from parliament over misconduct allegations.
The
contest for Peter Bone’s Wellingborough seat will be the 20th by-election since
the last general election in 2019, with the beleaguered Tories – in power since
2010 – losing the vast majority of them.
Another
defeat in Wellingborough, a safe Conservative constituency in recent elections,
will heap further pressure on under-fire Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of an
expected general election at some point next year.
Sunak
has failed to revive his party’s flagging fortunes since becoming UK leader in
October last year, consistently trailing the main Labour opposition by
double-digit margins in polls and losing a string of by-elections.
The
latest contest in Wellingborough, which could be held as soon as February,
follows at least 10 percent of voters there signing a petition to
“recall” Bone, with the results announced late Tuesday.
MPs
will formally confirm the date of the by-election when they return from their
Christmas and new year break.
The
recall comes after Bone was suspended from parliament in October for six weeks
for bullying and sexual misconduct against a staff member.
An
independent panel which probed the claims found he had “committed many
varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct” against a member
of his staff in 2012 and 2013.
Bone
has denied the accusations.
In
a statement late Tuesday, the 71-year-old – who has represented Wellingborough
in parliament since 2005 – again insisted the charges were “totally untrue
and without foundation”.
“I
will have more to say on these matters in the new year,” he added.
Bone
can stand in the upcoming by-election, but likely as an independent, given he
was removed from the Conservative parliamentary party in October after the
panel’s report was published.
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