Peter Bone’s partner vows to stand again

She may have lost the Wellingborough by-election by more than 6,000 votes but Tory candidate Helen Harrison is determined to show there’s no dampening her quest to become an MP. Exiting the vote count after the by-election results were announced, Harrison declared she would ‘absolutely’ run again and stand at the general election. 

Pressed by journalists on why she thought she didn’t win this time, Harrison acknowledged that ‘I think that Reform is a bit of a threat to us Conservatives’ but deflected the question when asked if she thought Richard Tice’s party was the reason she lost, saying ‘there are probably lots of different issues as to why I lost’. Harrison then refused to say whether it was Rishi Sunak’s fault that she lost. Gotta keep CCHQ on side eh?

Despite her efforts, Mr S wonders whether Harrison will enjoy Tory high command’s backing next time around. After all, it was her partner, Peter Bone, who caused this by-election, having been ousted from the Commons after an investigation into allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct.