Tory MP Peter Bone suspended for six weeks after ‘exposing himself to male staffer in Madrid hotel’
TORY MP Peter Bone has been suspended from Parliament for six weeks after he allegedly exposed himself a male staffer in a Madrid hotel.
Another by-election is looming for Rishi Sunak after the Wellingborough MP was suspended for bullying and sexual misconduct.
Mr Bone was found to have "committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct" against a staff member in 2012 and 2013.
Mr Bone was found to have indecently exposed himself to the complainant in the bathroom of a hotel room during a work trip to Madrid.
He also imposed an "unwanted and humiliating ritual" on the man by forcing him to sit with his hands in his lap when the MP was unhappy with his work, the investigation found.
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The complainant at the centre of the case has told the BBC it was a "horrid, brutal, dark experience that left me a broken shell of the young man I once was".
"His temper was often explosive. I described it as like a pendulum," he said, adding that Mr Bone's behaviour was "relentless".
The House of Commons on Wednesday approved the sanction against the MP for Wellingborough, who is sitting as an independent after losing the Conservative whip.
A recall petition will be arranged which will trigger a by-election if signed by 10% of voters in the Northamptonshire constituency.
Mr Bone has held the seat for the Conservatives since 2005 and retained it at the last general election with a majority of 18,540.
That is smaller than the majorities the Tories had held in both Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire in 2019, and they both fell to Labour in by-elections last week.
The MP said the allegations were "false and untrue" and "without foundation" last week, but he was kicked out of the Tory parliamentary party the next day.
Parliament's Independent Expert Panel upheld an earlier investigation that found he broke the MPs' code of conduct on four counts of bullying and one of sexual misconduct.