OFFICIALS have recommended Tory MP Peter Bone be suspended from the Commons for six weeks after he was found to have bullied and committed sexual misconduct against a 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 in 2012 and 2013.

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

Mr Bone claimed the allegations were “false and untrue” and without foundation as he vowed to continue representing his constituents.

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 panel’s report.

The complaints include that Mr Bone had repeatedly pressurised the member of staff to give him a massage in the office and, on a visit to Madrid with an all-party parliamentary group, he indecently exposed himself to the complainant in the bathroom and bedroom of the hotel room they were sharing.

Following an investigation, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner upheld all four allegations of bullying and the allegation of sexual misconduct relating to the incident in Madrid.

Mr Bone appealed against the decision, which was then upheld by a subpanel of the IEP, which described it as a “serious case of misconduct” including “a deliberate and conscious abuse of power using a sexual mechanism.”

Labour Party chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: “If [Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak is to ever live up to his promise of integrity, professionalism and accountability, he needs to urgently get a grip on his party.”

The Conservatives are yet to comment on whether they will be removing the whip from Mr Bone.