41 Facts About Peter Bone

Peter William Bone was born on 19 October 1952 and is a British former politician who was the Member of Parliament for Wellingborough from 2005 until his removal in 2023.

Peter Bone campaigned for Brexit in the EU referendum and was part of the political advisory board of Leave Means Leave.

Peter Bone was not a candidate at the subsequent by-election held in February 2024.

Peter Bone was born on 19 October 1952 in Billericay in Essex.

In 1978, Peter Bone was elected as a councillor for the Blenheim ward on Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, where he served for eight years, until 1986.

Peter Bone was elected as the deputy chairman of the Southend West Conservative Association in 1977 and continued in the position until 1984.

Peter Bone unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary seat of Islwyn in the South Wales valleys at the 1992 general election against the then Leader of the Opposition Neil Kinnock.

Peter Bone subsequently fought the European Parliament election in 1994 for Mid and West Wales, coming third.

Peter Bone was a member of the 1922 Committee and was an executive member from 2007 to 2012.

In March 2009, Peter Bone was one of the key speakers opposing the use of the House of Commons by the UK Youth Parliament, having been appointed one of the Tellers.

Peter Bone proposed a bill in July 2013, arguing that the August Bank Holiday should be renamed to Margaret Thatcher Day to commemorate her premiership.

Peter Bone was frequently critical of the coalition government of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

In February 2018, following the announcement that Northamptonshire County Council had brought in a "section 114" notice, putting it in special measures following a crisis in its finances, Peter Bone was one of seven local MPs who released a statement arguing that the problems with the authority were down to mismanagement from the Conservative councillors who led it rather than funding cuts from the Conservative government.

In June 2018, Peter Bone defended fellow Conservative MP Christopher Chope after he was widely criticised for blocking a private member's bill to make it illegal to take photos of people aimed up their skirts.

Peter Bone voted for Liz Truss to be the new Conservative leader and was part of her transition team, but was sacked from his ministerial role after she became prime minister.

The report stated that, having booked a single room for the two of them on a work trip in 2013, Peter Bone had "dropped his towel and exposed his genitals close to his employee's face" while they were in the bathroom and went on to expose himself to the complainant in their shared bedroom.

Peter Bone was 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.

Peter Bone appealed against the findings and the suspension, which were both upheld, and so a report to the house was made on 16 October 2023 recommending his suspension for six weeks.

Peter Bone denied the allegations in the report via a post on the social media site X, stating the claims listed were "false and untrue" and "without foundation".

Peter Bone said that the investigation by the IEP was "flawed" and "procedurally unfair".

The recall petition was successful, with 10,505 votes out of a possible 79,402 eligible votes, and Peter Bone ceased to be a Member of Parliament, leaving the seat vacant and triggering a by-election in the Wellingborough consitiuency.

Peter Bone reacted the result by describing the decision as "bizarre".

Peter Bone did not stand as a candidate at the 2024 Wellingborough by-election, however his partner and former parliamentary assistant, Helen Harrison, was the Conservative candidate.

Peter Bone is regarded as being on the right wing of the Conservative Party, and is a member of the socially conservative traditionalist Cornerstone Group.

Peter Bone has voted to lower the abortion time limit to 12 weeks and voted against abolishing the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel.

Peter Bone has urged the Charity Commission to award the tax breaks of registration to any legal faith group.

Peter Bone opposed the introduction of the National Minimum Wage, which he claimed would "condemn hundreds of thousands to the dole queue" and, in 2009, backed a private member's bill tabled by his colleague, Christopher Chope, proposing to enable employees to opt out of the minimum wage.

In 2009, Peter Bone said of the National Health Service : "We have gone from having one of the best health services in the Western world to arguably the worst", which had "centralised and Stalinist management".

Peter Bone described government proposals to introduce same-sex marriage rights as "completely nuts".

Peter Bone subsequently voted against the Marriage Act 2013.

Peter Bone blamed the Liberal Democrats for tying David Cameron's hands.

In 2014, Peter Bone described UKIP's emergence as a "good thing for British politics", and criticised his own party for "neglecting" the views of traditional Conservatives on other issues such as immigration, but said he intended to campaign for withdrawal from the EU from within the Conservative Party.

Peter Bone is a director of Grassroots Out and was a director of the now-dissolved Go Movement Limited, with Nigel Farage and Tom Pursglove.

In September 2019, Peter Bone said that a general election would be a "good thing" and a necessary step in order to establish a "Conservative government with a majority" and prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Peter Bone said that Boris Johnson would be an "excellent prime minister and get a proper Brexit deal and lead us to victory in the next general election".

On 6 June 2022, after a vote of no confidence in Johnson's leadership was called, Peter Bone announced that he would vote in support of him.

Peter Bone married Jeanette Sweeney in 1981, and they had two sons and a daughter.

In 2016, Peter Bone separated from his wife, who is a Conservative councillor in the Borough of Wellingborough, and they were divorced in 2019.

Peter Bone is currently in a relationship with physiotherapist Helen Harrison, who has been his senior parliamentary assistant since 2019.

Peter Bone played cricket as a left-arm bowler for Cambridge Methodists Cricket Club in Leeds.

Peter Bone played cricket as a member of a Parliamentarians team, alongside Crispin Blunt and Hugh Robertson.