Conservative MP Peter Bone faces a six-week suspension from the House of Commons after an Independent Expert Panel (IEP) concluded he had “committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct” against a member of his staff in 2012 and 2013.
It comes after a former member of Bone’s staff complained to parliament’s behaviour watchdog.
If MPs agree with the IEP’s recommendation of a six-week ban from the Commons, it will trigger a recall petition which could lead to a by-election.
Bone has an 18,540 vote majority in his Wellingborough seat and has held it since 2005. In one of last year’s many cabinet reshuffles, he briefly held the title of Deputy Leader of the House of Commons when Boris Johnson couldn’t find anyone else.
The IEP found that Bone had indecently exposed himself to the staffer on an overseas trip. The panel also found that Bone’s behaviour constituted “instructing, or physically forcing, the complainant to put his hands in his lap when Mr Bone was unhappy with him or his work”.
This is not the first time Bone has been questioned over his style of management. In 1995, the Daily Mirror described Bone as Britain’s “meanest boss” after he defended paying a 17-year-old trainee 87p an hour, equivalent to £1.78 in 2021.
Bone initially appealed the panel’s findings but to no avail after a sub-panel backed up the work of the IEP. He has denied all allegations against him.
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