07 January 2024 , 14:47
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The partner of flasher ex-MP Peter Bone has been selected to replace him as the Tory candidate in the seat he was booted out of.
Mr Bone's constituents voted to kick him out of the seat last month paving the way for a by-election in Wellingborough. A date for the by-election will be set after MPs return to Parliament after the Christmas recess on Monday.
Tory Party Chairman Richard Holden announced Mr Bone's girlfriend Helen Harrison, a Tory councillor in Northamptonshire, has been selected as the party's candidate to replace him. He wrote: "Congratulations to Cllr Helen Harrison on being selected for #Wellingborough at a packed meeting of Conservative members this afternoon #WellingboroughByElection."
Disgraced MP Mr Bone was suspended from the Commons for six weeks in October after an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct. Parliament's Independent Expert Panel ruled he had engaged in “a wilful pattern of bullying” which included "an unwanted incident of sexual misconduct, when the complainant was trapped in a room with the respondent in a hotel in Madrid”.
He was sitting as an independent MP after losing the Tory whip in the wake of the findings. But he has now been stripped of his Commons seat after losing a crunch recall petition triggered automatically by the length of his suspension from Parliament.
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Some 13.2% of constituents - 10,505 people - voted to oust him during the six-week vote, according to North Northamptonshire Council. This exceeds the 10% threshold needed for the recall to succeed.
It was reported in November that Mr Bone was threatening to run as an independent in a potential Wellingborough by-election, unless his girlfriend was added to the shortlist of candidates. It sparked fears among Tories that Mr Bone, who had a large majority of 18,540 in the 2019 election, could potentially split the Conservative vote and hand victory to Labour. The Mirror also reported Mr Bone referenced his partner more in the Commons chamber than the cost of living.
Labour’s Shadow Paymaster General Jonathan Ashworth said: “Rishi Sunak caving to Peter Bone’s demand to select his partner so he doesn’t run as an independent shows just how weak the Prime Minister is. Rishi Sunak is too weak to lead his own party, let alone the country. The people of Wellingborough deserve the best possible candidate to represent them, not the product of a quick political fix. Only Labour can deliver the change the voters want to see and give Britain it’s future back.”
Labour will be aiming to snatch the constituency after a series of stunning by-election victories in 2023, including in Mid-Bedfordshire where the party overturned a majority of 24,664. The party has already selected Gen Kitchen, who grew up in Northamptonshire, as their candidate. She has said residents were "frankly embarrassed by the actions of their MP" and felt abandoned by the Government.