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.
