Английская Википедия:2023 Wellingborough recall petition

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Шаблон:Short description Участник:RMCD bot/subject notice A recall petition took 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.

The recall petition was successful, with 10,505 signatures (13.2% of the electorate), exceeding the 7,904 (10%) signature requirement. A by-election to fill the now-vacant seat is expected in early 2024.

Background

An employee of Bone's made a complaint through the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme in October 2021. 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. 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.

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. 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, and went on to expose himself to the complainant in their shared bedroom. Following that trip, Bone ostracised the complainant. 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.

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".

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

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

Recall petition

Шаблон:Seealso The petition period was 8 November–19 December 2023. During this period registered voters in the constituency were 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 could also sign by these means. The threshold for a successful petition was determined to be 7,904 signatures.

On 19 December, it was announced that 10,505 people had signed the petition, exceeding the threshold and triggering the by-election.

Candidates

In November 2023, Labour selected Genevieve Kitchen as their candidate – a former Newham councillor who has worked in the charity sector.

Also in November, the Liberal Democrats selected Ana Savage Gunn – a care home worker and former police officer with Northamptonshire Police.