Former Conservative minister Peter Bone has been suspended from the Commons for six weeks.

The MP has been accused of bullying and sexual misconduct by a former member of staff.

Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel found he had “trapped” them in a room and exposed himself – an action it called a “deliberate and conscious abuse of power”.

Other bullying incidents have been alleged between 2012 and 2013.

Mr Bone – who has had the Tory whip removed – continues to deny the allegations.

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The 71-year-old’s suspension was approved by parliament, meaning he will face a recall petition in his constituency of Wellingborough.

If 10% of voters sign it, a by-election will be called for the seat – in what is yet another headache for Rishi Sunak.

Mr Bone was made deputy leader of the Commons in 2022, in the final days of Boris Johnson’s administration.

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

The Liberal Democrats also demanded an inquiry into what the former prime minister and other senior figures knew about the allegations Mr Bone faced at the time he was given the frontbench role.

Five allegations by a Westminster staffer were made in October 2021 after a complaint made to the then-prime minister Theresa May in 2017 went unresolved, the IEP said.

The complaints included four allegations of bullying, saying Mr Bone:

• “Verbally belittled, ridiculed, abused and humiliated” his employee
• “Repeatedly physically struck and threw things” at him, including hitting him with his hand or an object such as a pencil or a rolled-up document
• Imposed an “unwanted and humiliating ritual” on him by forcing him to sit with his hands in his lap when the MP was unhappy with his work
• Ostracised the complainant following an incident on a work trip to Madrid

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The person involved in the case told the BBC it was a “horrid, brutal, dark experience that left me a broken shell of the young man I once was”.

“His temper was often explosive. I described it as like a pendulum,” he said, adding that Mr Bone’s behaviour was “relentless”.

He claimed that the Conservative Party “effectively ghosted” him for three years after he reported the allegations, including the complaint to Ms May in 2017.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is asking for procedural advice because former Tory minister Liam Fox raised concerns about a possible contempt of Parliament due to the BBC interview.