Tory MP Peter Bone has been recommended for a six-week suspension from the Commons after being found to have committed bullying and sexual misconduct against a staff member more than a decade ago.
Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel (IEP) said the MP for Wellingborough “committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct” against a member of his staff in 2012 and 2013.
The suspension, if approved by MPs, could lead to the Conservative facing a recall petition that would pave the way for another possible by-election.
Mr. Bone said the allegations are “false and untrue” and “without foundation” as he vowed to continue representing his constituents.
Exposed Himself
Five allegations by a Westminster staffer were made in October 2021, having had a complaint to then-Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017 unresolved, according to the IEP report.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.
He was also accused of imposing an “unwanted and humiliating ritual” on the staff member by forcing him to sit with his hands in his lap when the MP was unhappy with his work and ostracising the complainant following an incident on a work trip to Madrid.
The complainant also alleged that Mr. Bone had “repeatedly pressurised” the member of staff to give him a massage in the office and, on a visit to Madrid with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking, indecently exposed himself to the complainant in the bathroom and bedroom of the hotel room they were sharing.
Following an investigation, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner upheld all four allegations of bullying and the allegation of sexual misconduct relating to the incident in Madrid.
However, he found the demands for massages were bullying, not sexual misconduct.
Without Foundation
Mr. Bone appealed against the decision, which was then upheld by a sub-panel of the IEP, which described it as a “serious case of misconduct” including “a deliberate and conscious abuse of power using a sexual mechanism.”The sub-panel said: “The bullying involved violence, shouting and swearing, mocking, belittling and humiliating behaviour, and ostracism. It was often in front of others […] The respondent specifically targeted the complainant.”
In his response to the IEP’s findings, the MP said: “As I have maintained throughout these proceedings, none of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.”
He said the complainant had not raised the issues during their employment and said ICGS rules meant he could not “detail my views on the huge inconsistencies and lack of evidence in the allegations.”
He added: “I can say that the allegations are the only allegations at all made against me throughout my work as an MP and beyond. Witness statements were submitted from ten employees (current and former) of the highest integrity, testifying to the professional, accommodating and friendly place my office is to work.”
Claiming the ICGS investigation was “procedurally unfair,” he said he is “discussing with lawyers what action could and should be taken.”
According to the IEP’s report, the complainant’s father wrote to then-Prime Minister David Cameron in December 2015 to complain about Mr. Bone’s conduct, which he had learned of around a year earlier.
The complainant then submitted a formal complaint to Mr. Cameron’s successor, Ms. May, in Sept. 2017 and the Conservative Party began an investigation, which had still not been resolved by Aug. 2022.
Downing Street
Responding to the decision, Downing Street said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has “been clear about the importance of integrity, professionalism and accountability being core values at the heart of Government.”“He wants those standards to be rigorously upheld,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said, facing questions over the level of sleaze allegations MPs have faced.
Mr. Bone will now face a vote in the Commons on the six-week suspension recommended by the IEP report, with the Standards Committee required to produce a report formally recommending the suspension within three sitting days in order to trigger the vote.
If his suspension is approved, it will trigger a recall petition that could lead to a by-election in Mr. Bone’s Wellingborough constituency, where he has a majority of 18,540.
Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds said: “These are extremely serious allegations. If Rishi Sunak is to ever live up to his promise of integrity, professionalism and accountability he needs to urgently get a grip on his party.”
