Shamed Lanarkshire MP Margaret Ferrier has been suspended from Westminster for her Covid rule breach.
The MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West will be banished from parliament for 30 days and a by-election could now be called in the constituency.
Ms Ferrier, who was in the Commons to hear her fate, had been given a brief reprieve last week when not enough MPs were present to vote on her suspension.
But today (Tuesday) her peers voted to back the recommendation of the Standards Committee when 185 MPs voted for the suspension, compared with 37 who voted against it.
Under parliamentary rules, if 10 per cent of her constituents sign a recall petition, it will trigger a by-election.
The 62-year-old has sat as an independent MP for nearly three years after she broke Covid rules in 2020 and had the SNP whip removed from her.
Ms Ferrier visited local businesses and travelled to London with Covid symptoms in October 2020, then back home the next day after receiving a positive test result, subsequently resulting in her having the SNP whip withdrawn and pleading guilty to a charge of culpable and reckless conduct for which she was sentenced to 270 hours’ community service.
But she has refused to step down as an MP.
Fourteen of her former SNP colleagues backed her suspension with the remainder not voting. In contrast, 127 Labour MPs backed the motion.
Ms Ferrier breached Covid protocol by taking a train from Glasgow to London while she had coronavirus in September 2020.
She admitted culpably and recklessly exposing the public to the risk of Covid-19 infection when she made the journey despite having been told to self-isolate between September 27 and 29, 2020.
During the 48-hour period, Ms Ferrier visited the House of Commons - even giving a speech - and dined with a fellow politician moment before her test was confirmed as positive.
At the time, she said: “Despite feeling well, I should have self-isolated while waiting for my test result and deeply regret my actions. I take full responsibility and I urge everyone not to make the same mistakes that I have and do all they can to limit the spread of Covid-19.”
Scottish Labour has already picked its candidate to fight the seat, once considered one of the party’s safest in Scotland before it turned to the Nats in 2015.
Michael Shanks will stand and, reacting to the vote on Tuesday, he said: “It’s right that after years of anger and frustration with our current MP those of us who live in Rutherglen and Hamilton West now have the power to decide who represents us. I hope the recall process can begin soon.”
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