Peter Bone, a Conservative member of Parliament, is facing a possible six-week suspension due to sexual misconduct and bullying allegations.
A report by Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel found that Mr Bone exposed himself to a junior staffer who was “trapped” with him in a Madrid hotel.
To be approved, the suspension must be put to a vote in the House of Commons. This would result in a recall petition, which might then result in a by-election for Bone's Wellingborough seat.
According to this procedure, Bone would be forced to resign if 10 per cent of the district's registered voters signed a petition to do so.
By indecently exposing himself to the staff member while travelling abroad, Bone violated the sexual misconduct policies of the Parliament, according to the IEP report.
Bone filed an appeal against the panel's ruling, but it was denied. The panel said: “This is a serious case of misconduct.…The bullying involved violence, shouting and swearing, mocking, belittling and humiliating behaviour, and ostracism.”
The Standard has contacted Mr Bone for comment.
Which other MPs have lost their spots in Parliament this year?
Labour MPs
Diane Abbott
After being expelled from Labour in April due to a letter she wrote to the Observer newspaper, Diane Abbott now serves as an independent.
While Jews, Irish, and travellers may encounter discrimination, according to Abbott's letter, they "are not always subject to racism". After that, she retracted her comments and apologised, blaming them on an "initial draft being sent".
But Labour criticised her letter as "deeply offensive and wrong" and suspended the seasoned left-wing MP.
Independent MPs
Margaret Ferrier
The Scottish National Party MP Margaret Ferrier took the train from Scotland to London during the height of the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic in the UK. She returned to Scotland the following morning after testing positive for the virus.
A few days after admitting the infraction, Ferrier, an MP since 2019, was quickly suspended from the SNP and stripped of the party whip.
