Eccentric Brexiteer Peter Bone’s life and career, from namechecking his wife (until he left her for a physiotherapist 20 years his junior) to facing Commons ban for bullying and sexual misconduct that could end Tory MP’s political career

Peter Bone is a hardline Brexiteer who gained notoriety for repeatedly referencing his wife Jennie in the Commons.

But the mentions of ‘Mrs Bone’ – a Tory councillor namechecked by prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May – dried up in 2018 when it was revealed that he had left her for a physiotherapist 20 years his junior.

Helen Harrison, then aged 45, was at the time married with two children. She was was a director of Grassroots Out, a campaign to leave the European Union backed by Nigel Farage. Mr Bone was also a director.

It was the latest shock move by an MP, then a father of three aged 65, known for eccentricity which extended to wearing a colourful hat in the Commons chamber to show his support for a local charity.

But while he built up a profile, certainly within Westminster if not widely outside it, his critics once accused him of trying to boost his reputation by ‘saying very little, very often’.

His six-week suspension for bullying and exposing himself to a young male aide – almost certain to be approved by MPs today – means the end of a political career which reached a high point when he was briefly deputy Commons leader under Liz Truss last year.

He gained a reputation for mentioning ‘Mrs Bone’ – his wife and secretary Jennie – in the House of Commons, but they split in 2018 after he left her for Helen Harrison, a married physiotherapist 20 years his junior.

The couple appear to still be together, with Mrs Harrison posting pictures to social media last night showing them both campaigning with a local council candidate.

The Commons is set to rubber stamp the ban for the Wellingborough MP, 70, after an independent investigation found he carried out a campaign of bullying against a young aide.

If the suspension passes it will trigger a recall petition in the former minister’s Northamptonshire seat that could pave the way for a by-election, the latest in a line of votes triggered by Tory sleaze. Mr Bone continues to deny any wrongdoing.

The former accountant was a councillor in Essex for years before he became an MP in 2005, having tried unsuccessfully to enter parliament – both at Westminster and in Brussels – since  1992.

Once there he became known for references to Mrs Bone, who worked as his secretary. He often hailed her as an embodiment of Tory common sense, citing her approval or otherwise of key policies.

Quips included including telling the chamber of her excitement at being invited to a No10 function by David Cameron in 2012.

The previous year he had referenced her in a debate about disparate per capita public spending rates in England compared to Wales, telling a minister: ‘Yet again, Labour has left Wales in a mess, and Mrs Bone wants to know what the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State are going to do about it.’

Mr Bone is known for eccentricity which extended to wearing a colourful hat in the Commons chamber to show his support for a local charity in 2016

Mr Cameron once quipped: ‘I am fast coming to the view that Mrs Bone is insatiable.’ 

Later, she was the subject of a risqué double-entendre from Theresa May at the despatch box.

Mr Bone had asked the PM whether she would reopen a prison in Wellingborough as a birthday present in October 2016, to which the vicar’s daughter replied, to laugher: ‘I would say to my honourable friend I am very happy to wish him a very happy birthday, many happy returns.

‘I hope that Mrs Bone is going to treat the occasion in an appropriate manner.’

The racy episode had echoes of another PMQs in 2011, when Mr Bone told Mr Cameron that his wife was pleased Britain would not be involved in the bail-out of the nosediving Greek economy.

Mr Cameron replied that he felt a very big part of his life was dedicated to ‘giving pleasure to Mrs Bone’.

But in 2018 Mr Bone made the shock admission that he and Jennie had been living apart since 2016.

At a TV Brexit debate shortly before Christmas 2017, Mr Bone was accompanied by Mrs Harrison, a Conservative campaigner and former parliamentary candidate. 

In a statement at the time he said: ‘My wife and I have been living apart for more than two years, during which time I have formed a relationship with Helen Harrison.’

The couple appear to still be together, with Mrs Harrison posting pictures to social media last night showing them both campaigning with a local council candidate. 

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