Wellingborough by-election: More trouble for Sunak as Peter Bone loses seat
Rishi Sunak is set to lead his party into yet another by-election early in 2024, after Conservative MP Peter Bone’s constituents voted to oust him from the Commons.
Tory ministers have vowed to “fight for every vote” as the government prepares to battle to avoid another blue wall defeat in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, where they previously held a 18,540 majority.
Disgraced former Conservative MP Bone was given a six-week suspension from Parliament after an inquiry made a finding of acts of bullying and sexual misconduct in 2012 and 2013.
The suspension triggered a six-week long recall petition, meaning his constituents voted on whether to expel him from the Commons, with the result announced last night (Tuesday).
North Northamptonshire Council said 10,505 people agreed Bone should lose his job as an MP. The threshold was 7,904 people: a tenth of the 79,046 eligible voters in his constituency.
Bone has repeatedly denied the allegations as “totally untrue and without foundation” and said he would “have more to say on these matters in the new year”.
He also said it was “bizarre” to hold a by-election as “86.8 per cent of the electorate did not want to remove me… nor for there to be a by-election,” referring to those who did not sign.
It will mark a fresh test for both parties ahead of a general election expected later in 2024.
Government will decide in January when to begin the by-election campaign to replace Bone, who has been sitting as an independent MP after he lost the the Conservative whip.
Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride told Times Radio that the party had “a fair bit of ground to make up” in Wellingborough, which has been Tory-held since Bone’s win in 2005.
“There is no strong burning passion for Keir Starmer or another Labour government,” Stride argued. “We will be fighting for every single vote.”
But Gen Kitchen, Labour’s candidate for the seat, said the recall petition outcome showed that constituents “want change”.
A spokesperson for betting company William Hill said Labour were the “strong 1/5 favourites” to win, warning: “The Tories will have to surmount odds of 10/3 should they claw back the seat.”
Labour Together’s Josh Williams added: “Wellingborough has a Tory majority of over 18,000 and overwhelmingly voted for Brexit. If Labour can win it will be a remarkable victory.
“But this is a big ‘if’. The 18 percent swing Labour would need is more than current national polling. Labour has overturned some enormous majorities of late.
“But even a sizeable swing towards Labour that ends in the Tories scraping through will be yet more evidence that the country is ready for a change.”