Peter Bone: Conservatives MP stripped of Tory whip over bullying and sexual misconduct findings

Former minister Peter Bone has had the Tory whip removed after being found to have committed bullying and sexual misconduct against a staff member. The Conservatives acted a day after a watchdog recommended he should be suspended from the Commons for six weeks – potentially triggering a by-election in his Wellingborough seat.

Mr Bone, 70, was alleged to have exposed himself to a member of staff along with a series of acts of bullying. His expulsion also means he will have to sit as an independent MP. Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel (IEP) said the MP “committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct” against a member of his staff in 2012 and 2013.

The report also found that Mr Bone "trapped" a member of staff in a room where he exposed himself - in what the panel said was a "deliberate and conscious abuse of power." A spokeswoman for Chief Whip Simon Hart said: “Following a report by the Independent Expert Panel, the Chief Whip has removed the conservative whip from Peter Bone MP.”