Recall petition for MP Peter Bone to close

A petition which could unseat MP Peter Bone will close to voters in his Northamptonshire constituency on Tuesday.

The Wellingborough MP 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.

He is sitting as an independent after losing the Conservative whip.

The six-week process of the recall petition, which was prompted by his suspension, closes at 5pm.

If signed by 10% of the 79,046 eligible voters in his constituency – 7,904 people – Mr Bone will lose the seat and a by-election will be called.

Mr Bone has held the seat for the Conservatives since 2005 and retained it at the last general election with a majority of 18,540.

After the closure of nine signing places across the constituency, vote counting will begin, overseen by North Northamptonshire Council petition officer Adele Wylie.

If the petition is successful, the petition officer will notify the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, first and the seat becomes vacant.

Mr Bone was found to have “committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct” against a staff member in 2012 and 2013.

Parliament’s behaviour watchdog, the Independent Expert Panel, upheld an earlier investigation that found he broke the MPs’ code of conduct on four counts of bullying and one of sexual misconduct.

The panel found that he had indecently exposed himself to the complainant in the bathroom of a hotel room during a work trip to Madrid.

Mr Bone has denied the allegations.

The former minister was kicked out of the Tory parliamentary party a day after the report was published on October 16.