Merry Christmas, Rishi Sunak. With parliament rising for recess, some in No. 10 might have been hoping to put their feet up, now that the PM’s Liaison Committee grilling is out of the way. But tonight an unwelcome gift has been dropped at Sunak’s feet: his party will shortly be facing a by-election in the Northamptonshire seat of Wellingborough.
The reason? Another Tory MP accused of behaving badly. Back in October, Peter Bone was suspended from the Commons for six weeks for committing ‘many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct’ against a member of his staff way back in 2012 and 2013. The suspension of more than ten days triggered a recall petition, which his Wellingborough constituents have only been too keen to sign.
For tonight, the local council has announced that the threshold of 7,940 votes – 10 per cent of eligible registered voters – has been met.
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