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The partner of ex-Tory MP Peter Bone has been selected as the Conservative candidate to replace him in the upcoming Wellingborough by-election.
Helen Harrison, who won the selection, is physiotherapist and a Conservative councillor for Oudle ward on North Northamptonshire Council.
She is also the long-term partner of Mr Bone, and has been his senior parliamentary assistant since 2019. The pair began a relationship following Mr Bone’s separation from his wife in 2016.
Ms Harrison was announced as the candidate for the seat following a meeting of the local Conservative association on Sunday.
She won the selection with around 70 per cent of the vote, much higher than the usual winning margin in Conservative selections, i understands.
Following Ms Harrison’s selection, a party source said: “It’s quite clear that the local association wanted her.”
She was congratulated on the win by Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden, who attended the selection meeting.
The by-election in Wellingborough is being held after Mr Bone was suspended from the Commons for six weeks following the accusations of bullying and sexual misconduct towards a male staff member.
Parliament’s Independent Expert Panel (IEP) said the MP for Wellingborough “committed many varied acts of bullying and one act of sexual misconduct” against a member of his staff between 2012 and 2013.
In a statement after the report was published in October Mr Bone said the IEP investigation into him “was flawed, procedurally unfair and didn’t comply with its own rules and regulations.
He added: “As I have maintained throughout these proceedings, none of the misconduct allegations against me ever took place. They are false and untrue claims. They are without foundation.
“The allegations by an ex-employee refer to events of more than 10 years ago that spanned no more than a few months.”
The suspension automatically triggered a recall petition in his constituency, which was signed by 13.2 per cent of eligible voters – above the 10 per cent threshold needed.
The date for the by-election has not yet been set, but will likely be held in the coming months.
It will be the sixth by-election since June 2023, and could cause a headache for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as he defends the seat from Labour.
Wellingborough has only elected a Labour MP twice in the past 50 years, and Mr Bone held the seat at the last election in 2019 with a majority of 18,540 over the second-placed Labour candidate.
But Labour have pulled off victories against bigger Tory majorities – in October overturning a Conservative majority of 24,000 to win Nadine Dorries’ old Mid Bedfordshire seat, as well as overcoming a Tory majority of 19,000 in Tamworth after the resignation of Chris Pincher.