Wales could be facing another Byelection as aTory MP convicted for making a false expenses claim is facing a petition that could see him lose his seat.
The BBC report that Commons speaker John Bercow will ask officials to open a recall petition once Chris Davies is sentenced, with a by-election to be held if 10% of the MP's constituents sign it.
The MP was convicted last Friday.
Davies, 51, admitted to two charges relating to creating false invoices for £700 worth of photographs.
The politician could have made the claim legitimately under a different process. His case was adjourned for sentencing at a future date at Southwark Crown Court.
The figure needed to trigger a by-election is yet to be confirmed but it is thought around 5,300 names would be required.
Davies had admitted to one charge of providing false or misleading information for allowances claims, and one of attempting to do so.
A spokeswoman for the Speaker's Office said: "As soon as the court has formally informed Mr Speaker that sentencing has taken place, procedures under the Recall of MPs Act 2015 require him to write to the returning officer in Mr Davies' Brecon and Radnorshire constituency.
"Once the letter has been sent, Mr Davies is subject to the recall petition process and it will be for the returning officer to make the arrangements for the petition.
"The recall petition will be open for signing for six weeks," the spokeswoman added.
"If at least 10% of the electorate in the constituency sign the petition, the MP will lose his seat and a by-election will be triggered."
Once called, a recall petition should be available to be signed at up to ten locations open from Monday to Friday between 0900 and 1700, with "reasonable provision" given for signing at other times.
The Liberal Democrats who hold the Assembly seat (on the same boarders) will be chomping at the bit especially as they have no Welsh seats in the UK parliament and the seat has been a two party fight since 1997
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Christopher Davies | 20,081 | 48.6 | +7.5 | |
| Liberal Democrat | James Gibson-Watt | 12,043 | 29.1 | +0.8 | |
| Labour | Dan Lodge | 7,335 | 17.7 | +3.0 | |
| Plaid Cymru | Kate Heneghan | 1,299 | 3.1 | -1.3 | |
| UKIP | Peter Gilbert | 576 | 1.4 | -6.9 | |
| Majority | 8,038 | 19.5 | +6.7 | ||
| Turnout | 41,334 | 76.9 | +3.1 | ||
| Registered electors | 56,010 | ||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +3.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrats | Kirsty Williams | 15,898 | 52.4 | +9.3 | |
| Conservative | Gary Price | 7,728 | 25.4 | −7.9 | |
| Labour | Alex Thomas | 2,703 | 8.9 | −8.0 | |
| UKIP | Thomas Turton | 2,161 | 7.1 | +7.1 | |
| Plaid Cymru | Freddy Greaves | 1,180 | 3.9 | −2.8 | |
| Green | Grenville Ham | 697 | 2.3 | +2.3 | |
| Majority | 8,170 | 27 | +17.3 | ||
| Turnout | 30,367 | 56.5 | +3.6 | ||
| Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | +8.6 | |||
Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds has already been selected to be the party's Westminster candidate for Brecon & Radnorshire.
Though there is no guarantee that there will be enough electors in the constituency to actually sign it.
North Antrim DUP MP Ian Paisley survived a recall petition in September when it failed to get the numbers required to trigger a by-election.
He had been suspended from Westminster for failing to declare two holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government.
A recall petition process is currently underway in Peterborough against former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya - now sitting as an independent - who was jailed for perverting the course of justice.
It is interesting to note that with the revoke article 50 petition approaching nearly 6 million some constituencies have passed the 10% mark
You can see the interactive map here but of interest Brecon and Radorshire is currently at 8.29%
Of course it's not open to the same verification as a recall petition , but attempts to question the legitimacy of the Revoke petition, have failed to come up with any tangible evidence
Ach Brexiteer Julia Hartley-Brewer has taken to Twitter to cast doubts on the credibility of the petition.
Oh, this is going to be a fun afternoon. You can sign any name you want to the Revoke Article 50 petition and use the same email address repeatedly. Let the games begin! #RemoanerMcRemoanface
8,895 people are talking about this
s
Though Hartley-Brewer’s intervention, as is so often the case, isn’t based in the world of facts.
Firstly, no email address can be used repeatedly.
For your name to be counted, each person has to click a verification e-mail link, which can only be used once.
If you sign it twice, you get an email like the one below
Clearly it is not the same as a recall position , but the sure numbers even if there were some discrepancy can't be ignored.
No comments:
Post a Comment