2024 Wellingborough by-election

2024 Wellingborough by-election

←  2019 15 February 2024 July 2024  →
Wellingborough constituency
Turnout	38.0% [1] (26.3 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Con Candidate Gen Kitchen Helen Harrison Ben Habib Party Labour Conservative Reform UK Popular vote 13,844 7,408 3,919 Percentage 45.9% 24.6% 13.0% Swing 19.5 pp 37.6 pp New
Boundary of the Wellingborough constituency in Northamptonshire
MP before election Peter Bone Independent Elected MP Gen Kitchen Labour

A by-election took place on Thursday 15 February 2024 in the UK Parliament constituency of Wellingborough. This followed a recall petition held in late 2023 that removed the incumbent MP Peter Bone under the terms of the Recall of MPs Act 2015, triggered by his six-week suspension from the House of Commons for bullying and sexual harassment.

The by-election was won by Gen Kitchen of the Labour Party. ^[2] It was the biggest swing from the Conservatives to Labour since the 1994 Dudley West by-election and the second biggest since the Second World War. ^[3] It was also the largest ever drop in the Conservative Party vote share in a by-election, the largest drop in any party's vote share since the 1948 Glasgow Camlachie by-election, ^[4] and the worst performance by the Conservatives in the constituency's history, falling below the 25.4% of the vote it received in 1923. The turnout was 38%, ^[1] compared to a 64.3% turnout in the constituency at the last general election.

The by-election took place on the same day as the Kingswood by-election, also won by Labour from the Conservatives.

Constituency

Main article: Wellingborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Wellingborough is a county constituency in the East of Northamptonshire, and contains the settlements of Wellingborough, Rushden, Higham Ferrers, Irchester and Finedon.

Created in 1918, the Wellingborough constituency was considered a bellwether from the late 1960s to the 2000s. After the 1997 general election, Wellingborough had the smallest Labour majority in the country – 187 votes. ^[5] It has been a Conservative-held seat since Bone's election in 2005, and has been considered a safe seat since 2010. The seat is estimated to have voted Leave in the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's European Union membership by a margin of 64% to 36%. ^[6]

Recall petition

Background

An employee of MP Peter Bone made a complaint through the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme in October 2021. ^{[7] [8]} That led to an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who upheld five allegations relating to bullying and harassment, and one of sexual misconduct. ^[9]

Bone appealed against the findings and the recommended suspension, which were both upheld, and so a report to the house was made by the Independent Expert Panel on 16 October 2023 recommending his suspension for six weeks. ^[8]

The panel's report found Bone had "committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct" against a male member of his staff. ^{[10] [11]} The report stated that, having booked a single room for the two of them on a work trip in 2013, Bone had "dropped his towel and exposed his genitals close to his employee's face" while they were in the bathroom, ^[12] and went on to expose himself to the complainant in their shared bedroom. Following that trip, Bone ostracised the complainant. ^[8] Bone was also found to have pressured the man into massaging him when they were alone in the office, and to have thrown objects or struck him on a number of occasions. ^{[12] [9]}

Bone denied the allegations in the report, stating the claims listed were "false and untrue" and "without foundation". He also said that the investigation by the IEP was "flawed" and "procedurally unfair". ^{[13] [14]}

On 17 October, the Conservative Party withdrew the whip, suspending him from his membership of the Parliamentary Conservative Party. ^{[15] [16]}

Following a vote on 25 October, Bone was suspended from the House of Commons for six weeks. ^[17] The length of his suspension automatically triggered a recall petition in his constituency. ^[18]

Petition process

See also: Recall of MPs Act 2015 § Recall procedure

The petition was open for signatures from 8 November to 19 December 2023. During this period registered voters in the constituency were able to sign at one of nine designated petition signing places between 9am and 5pm Monday–Friday, with extended signing hours on 13 November. Voters registered for postal or proxy ballots could also sign by these means. The total number of electors entitled to sign the petition was 79,046, with the threshold for a successful recall determined to be 7,904 signatures. ^[19]

Result

The recall petition was successful, with 10,505 signatures (13.2% of the electorate), exceeding the 10% signature requirement, and Bone ceased to be a Member of Parliament, triggering a by-election. Bone reacted to the outcome of the petition by calling it "bizarre" as the majority of eligible petitioners did not sign the petition. ^[20] He was permitted to stand in the resulting by-election, but did not do so.

Campaign

The recall petition closed as the Commons rose for its Christmas recess. ^[21] The writ of election for this and the Kingswood by-election were moved on 11 January 2024, ^[22] and later that day the date of 15 February 2024 was announced. ^[23] BBC News reported that main issues in the campaign were rising crime and local buses. ^[24]

Candidates

Labour selected charity worker Gen Kitchen to stand in November 2023, from a shortlist of two. ^{[25] [26]}

The Liberal Democrats selected care home worker Ana Savage Gunn, previously candidate for Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner. ^[27]

The Green Party selected Will Morris, an insurance underwriter and parish councillor. Marion Turner-Hawes, who represented the Green Party in 2015 and 2019, stood as an independent. ^[28]

On 7 January 2024, the Conservatives selected Helen Harrison, who represents Oundle ward on North Northamptonshire Council ^[29] and was the party’s candidate in Bolsover at the 2017 general election. She is the partner of Peter Bone, ^[30] and The Times had reported that Bone was trying to help his partner become the candidate, with the threat of standing as an independent against the Conservatives if she were not selected. ^[31] Harrison is a chartered physiotherapist by profession. ^[32]

Reform UK reportedly had discussions with Bone regarding him standing for re-election as their candidate. ^[33] However, on 3 January 2024 the party chose its co-deputy leader Ben Habib. ^[34]

On 9 January, former Northamptonshire Police officer and Irchester parish councillor Kevin Watts announced he was running as an independent. ^[35] Andre Pyne-Bailey also stood as an independent. ^[36]

On 17 January, the novelty Official Monster Raving Loony Party announced its candidate Nick the Flying Brick, who told the Northants Telegraph: "I'm a single issue politician – I plan to abolish gravity." ^[37]

Perennial by-election candidate Ankit Love, the British-Kashmiri leader of the Indian-registered Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), stood in the name of that party and his late mother, Jay Mala, who died in April 2023. ^{[38] [39]} Alex Merola stood for Britain First. ^[40]

Results

A limited recount was held for verification purposes. ^[41]

Bar chart of the election result.

2024 Wellingborough by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gen Kitchen	13,844	45.9	+19.4
	Conservative	Helen Harrison	7,408	24.6	–37.6
	Reform UK	Ben Habib	3,919	13.0	New
	Liberal Democrats	Ana Savage Gunn	1,422	4.7	–3.2
	Independent	Marion Turner-Hawes	1,115	3.7	+0.2
	Green	Will Morris	1,020	3.4	–0.1
	Independent	Kev Watts	533	1.8	New
	Britain First	Alex Merola	477	1.6	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Nick the Flying Brick	217	0.7	New
	Independent	Andre Pyne-Bailey	172	0.6	New
	Independent	Ankit Love Jknpp Jay Mala Post-Mortem	18	0.1	New
Majority			6,436	21.3	N/A
Turnout			30,145	38.0	–26.3
Registered electors			79,376
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+28.5

Previous result

2019 general election: Wellingborough

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Peter Bone	32,277	62.2	+4.8
	Labour	Andrea Watts	13,737	26.5	–7.5
	Liberal Democrats	Suzanna Austin	4,078	7.9	+4.6
	Green	Marion Turner-Hawes	1,821	3.5	+1.7
Majority			18,540	35.7	+12.3
Turnout			51,913	64.3	–2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.15

See also

• List of United Kingdom by-elections (2010–present)

References

1. Jones, Ian (16 February 2024). "Kingswood and Wellingborough by-election results: Key numbers and statistics in full". The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
2. "Labour wins Wellingborough seat in by-election". BBC News. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
3. Gecsoyler, Sammy (16 February 2024). "Labour overturns 18,000 majority to win Wellingborough byelection". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 16 February 2024.
4. "Labour's Gen Kitchen overturns 19,000 Tory majority to win Wellingborough by-election". The Independent. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
5. "Vote 2001 | Results & Constituencies | Wellingborough". BBC News. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
6. "Seat Details – Wellingborough". Electoral Calculus. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
7. Gibbons, Amy (16 October 2023). "Tory MP Peter Bone exposed himself to staffer in Madrid hotel room". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 October 2023.
8. "The Conduct of Mr Peter Bone MP" (PDF). UK Parliament. The Independent Expert Panel. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
9. Mitchell, Archie (16 October 2023). "Tory MP 'exposed himself to staff member and trapped him in hotel bathroom'". Independent. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
10. Stacey, Kiran (16 October 2023). "Tory MP Peter Bone hit and abused staff member, watchdog says". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
11. "Independent Expert Panel recommends suspending Peter Bone MP for bullying and sexual misconduct". UK Parliament. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
12. Stacey, Kiran (16 October 2023). "Tory MP Peter Bone hit and abused staff member, watchdog says". The Guardian.
13. Bone, Peter [@PeterBoneUK] (16 October 2023). "Below is my statement on the publication of the IEP report today" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. "Peter Bone: Tory MP facing suspension after bullying probe". BBC News. 16 October 2023.
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16. Brown, Faye (17 October 2023). "Peter Bone: Tory MP kicked out of parliamentary party after bullying and sexual misconduct allegations". Sky News. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
17. "Commons business 25 October 2023".
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24. "Crime to buses: Wellingborough by-election in charts". BBC News. 11 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
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26. Cronin, Kate (11 November 2023). "Wellingborough Labour members select Genevieve Kitchen as their candidate to fight Peter Bone's seat at a potential by-election as she immediately calls on him to resign". Northamptonshire Telegraph. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
27. "Lib Dems choose candidate for Peter Bone MP's seat". BBC News. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
28. "The candidates set for Wellingborough by-election". BBC News. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
29. "Councillor Helen Harrison". North Northamptonshire Council. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
30. Baker, Tim (7 January 2024). "Disgraced ex-Tory MP Peter Bone's partner chosen to run as his replacement in Wellingborough by-election". Sky News. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
31. Yorke, Caroline Wheeler and Harry (7 January 2024). "Peter Bone's plan for girlfriend to replace him — or risk splitting Tory vote" . Retrieved 7 January 2024.
32. Bagley, Alison (16 January 2024). "Wellingborough by-election - first interview with Peter Bone's girlfriend, Helen Harrison, as she bids to replace him as MP". Northamptonshire Telegraph.
33. Chaplain, Chloe (29 December 2023). "Reform and Peter Bone plot to cause upset in the Wellingborough by-election". i. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
34. McGovern, Eimear (3 January 2024). "Ben Habib announces election candidacy after NI kept him in 'political arena'". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
35. Payne, Josh (9 January 2024). "Wellingborough by-election – new candidate announced". Northamptonshire Telegraph . Retrieved 11 January 2024.
36. Maskery, Chris (12 February 2024). "February by-elections: Everything you need to know about the three seats up for grabs". Planet Radio.
37. Bagley, Alison (17 January 2024). "Monster Raving Loony candidate announces single policy for Wellingborough by-election". Northamptonshire Telegraph . Retrieved 18 January 2024.
38. Service, Tribune News. "Son seeks probe into death of JKNPP co-founder". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
39. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". North Northamptonshire Council. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
40. "Alex Merola – Britain First". BBC Radio Northampton. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
41. "Limited recount held in the Wellingborough by-election". BBC News. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.