Peter Bone: Tory MP faces six week suspension for bullying and sexual misconduct

A Tory MP faces a six week suspension from Parliament for bullying and sexual misconduct.

Peter Bone “trapped” a member of staff in a Madrid hotel room and exposed himself, according to a report from Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel.

The Wellingborough MP also asked for massages and “forcibly put the complainant’s hands in his lap”, the panel found.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards upheld five allegations of bullying and one of sexual misconduct against the prominent Brexiteer.

During a trip to Madrid in January 2013, as part of Mr Bone’s role as co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Trafficking, the MP booked a twin hotel room for him and his staff member and “tried to keep the beds together”.

The report states: “On one occasion in the bathroom exposed his genitals close to the complainant’s face. Findings of bullying and… sexual misconduct were upheld.”

Other allegations included that Mr Bone “repeatedly physically struck and threw things at the complainant, with examples on five specific dates in October 2012 and on 14 January 2013” and that the MP “imposed an unwanted and humiliating ritual” on the victim .

Mr Bone “imposed upon his staff, including the complainant, a ritual called ‘hands on laps’.”

“When not satisfied with the complainant’s work, particularly on expenses, he would forcibly make him or require him to put his hands on his lap, sometimes hitting his hands,” the report stated.

Mr Bone appealed the panel’s decision, but this was dismissed.

Determining that he should be suspended for six weeks, the panel said: “This is a serious case of misconduct.…The bullying involved violence, shouting and swearing, mocking, belittling and humiliating behaviour, and ostracism.

“This wilful pattern of bullying also included an unwanted incident of sexual misconduct, when the complainant was trapped in a room with the respondent in a hotel in Madrid, …This was a deliberate and conscious abuse of power using a sexual mechanism: indecent exposure.”

If approved by MPs, the suspension could lead to the Conservative facing a recall petition that would pave the way for another possible by-election.

Mr Bone, who was appointed deputy leader of the House of Commons by Boris Johnson, said the allegations are “false and untrue” and “without foundation” as he vowed to continue representing his constituents.

He added that the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme investigation into him “was flawed, procedurally unfair and didn’t comply with its own rules and regulations”.

Five allegations by a Westminster staffer were made in October 2021, having had a complaint to then-prime minister Theresa May in 2017 unresolved, according to the report.