By Jessica Frank-Keyes
The partner of the disgraced ex-Conservative MP Peter Bone has been selected to stand in his seat in a bid to replace him in the Wellingborough by-election.
Helen Harrison, a North Northamptonshire councillor, was chosen by local Tory members this afternoon, according to a social media post by party chairman Richard Holden.
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Congratulations to Cllr Helen Harrison on being selected for Wellingborough at a packed meeting of Conservative members this afternoon.”
The pair have, according to reports, been in a relationship since 2019, and Bone has mentioned Harrison, his former assistant, multiple times during Parliamentary speeches in her role as councillor.
Her X bio describes her as “Executive Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing” and lists her office address as 44 Midland Road. Bone’s office address is listed as 42 Midland Road.
The by-election was called after more than 10 per cent of voters in Bone’s constituency voted for a so-called ‘recall petition’, meaning they want to remove him as their MP.
It was triggered when the Brexiteer and former Leave Means Leave backer was suspended from the House of Commons for six weeks after an inquiry found he had bullied and sexually harassed a staff member, which saw him lose the Tory whip and sit as an independent MP.
The Conservatives will decide when to begin the by-election campaign period after Parliament resumes next week.
Labour have selected their candidate, Gen Kitchen, who has argued that voters “want change”, and the party began their campaign last week by unveiling an huge anti-Rishi Sunak poster at their Wellingborough constituency office.
Bone won the Northamptonshire seat in 2019 with an 18,540 majority over Labour, but this year’s first contest comes in the wake of a run of defeats of safer Tory seats, including in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire, both of which Sir Keir Starmer’s party won in October.
Wellingborough has been Conservative-held since 2005, when Bone won it from Labour.
The MP previously claimed holding a by-election was “bizarre” because “86.8 per cent of the electorate did not want to remove me from office, nor for there to be a by-election”.
He has insisted the allegations against him are “totally untrue and without foundation”.
However, Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel (IEP) upheld an earlier investigation which found Bone broke the MPs’ code of conduct on four counts of bullying and one of sexual misconduct, including indecently exposing himself to the complainant in a hotel bathroom.
Harrison has been approached for comment on her selection.
