The partner of disgraced ex-Tory MP Peter Bone has been chosen as the Conservative candidate to replace him in the Wellingborough by-election.
Helen Harrison, who is a Conservative councillor in Wellingborough’s North Northamptonshire area, was selected by members of the party on Sunday afternoon, according to party chair Richard Holden.
An election is being held after Mr Bone was found by parliament to have subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct. He has denied the allegations.
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Mr Bone has had the whip suspended from him, meaning he sits as an independent MP in the Commons, rather than a Conservative one.
However, he has been seen campaigning with the party despite the suspension.
His constituents voted to recall him as part of a recall petition, and so a by-election will be held, although a date has not yet been confirmed.
Mr Bone is allowed to stand in the vote if he chooses, but it is not clear if he will.
The other candidates for the election include Gen Kitchen for Labour, Ana Savage Gunn for the Liberal Democrats, Ben Habib for Reform UK and Will Morris for the Green Party.
This is not the first time Ms Harrison will have competed for a seat at Westminster, having previously tried to get elected as the Tory MP for Bolsover in 2017. She lost to the incumbent Dennis Skinner.
Any election win would need to be fought again at the next general election – most likely to take place this year.
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A report into Mr Bone’s behaviour found he had “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 a previous probe which found Mr Bone had broken the MPs’ code of conduct on four counts of bullying and one of sexual misconduct.
He was found to have indecently exposed himself to the complainant in the bathroom of a hotel room during a work trip to Madrid.
In a statement posted on X following the result of the recall election, Mr Bone said: “The recall petition came about as a result of an inquiry into alleged bullying and misconduct towards an ex-employee which was alleged to have occurred more than 10 years ago.
“These allegations are totally untrue and without foundation.
“I will have more to say on these matters in the new year. May I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.”
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Mr Bone has been the MP for Wellingborough in Northamptonshire since 2005, and was re-elected with a majority of 18,540 at the last election in 2019.
The Conservatives have lost a series of by-elections in which they previously held five-figure majorities, including Selby and Ainsty, Mid Bedfordshire, and Somerton and Frome.
