The companion of flasher ex-MP Peter Bone has been chosen to switch him because the Tory candidate within the seat he was booted out of.
Mr Bone’s constituents voted to kick him out of the seat final month paving the way in which for a by-election in Wellingborough. A date for the by-election might be set after MPs return to Parliament after the Christmas recess on Monday.
Tory Party Chairman Richard Holden introduced Mr Bone’s girlfriend Helen Harrison, a Tory councillor in Northamptonshire, has been chosen because the celebration’s candidate to switch 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 discovered he had subjected a workers member to bullying and sexual misconduct. Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel dominated 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.
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.
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 said last month residents were “frankly embarrassed by the actions of their MP” and felt deserted by the Government.