Lanarkshire MP Margaret Ferrier has lost her appeal against the sanction for her 2020 Covid rule breach, which could now result in a hotly-contested by-election in her Rutherglen & Hamilton West constituency.
An independent expert panel at the House of Commons dismissed her arguments against the proposed 30-day suspension from Westminster – which, if rubber-stamped by members, would allow a recall petition to be opened calling for local voters to be able to go back to the polls.
Its three members concluded that “none of the grounds had substance and the sanction imposed was neither unreasonable nor disproportionate”, concluding that although Ms Ferrier was “hugely apologetic and remorseful for her conduct, she acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent, a high degree of recklessness [and] acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest. There could therefore be no lesser sanction.”
Ms Ferrier argued that the committee’s recommended sanction – bringing with it the likelihood of a constituency by-election – was “unduly harsh and disproportionate” and that insufficient consideration had been given to her self-referral to the standards commissioner or to her “hard work as an MP and impeccable parliamentary record”.
It was imposed after she visited constituency businesses and travelled to London with coronavirus symptoms in October 2020, then back home again the next day after receiving a positive Covid test result, subsequently resulting in her having the SNP whip withdrawn and pleading guilty last year to a charge of culpable and reckless conduct for which she was sentenced to 270 hours’ community service.
The parliamentary standards committee at Westminster ruled that her actions breached two parts of the code of conduct for members and proposed the lengthy suspension from the House of Commons in March following their investigation.
A three-person independent panel concluded that there was “no substance” in the MP’s grounds of appeal regarding the severity of the sanction, noting that “MPs are expected to be held to a high standard of conduct as well as honesty” and adding: “The reputation of the House will always be more important than the consequences for an individual MP."
Panel members dismissed the contention that the Commons sanction on top of the MP’s court sentence amounted to “double jeopardy”, saying that criminal and workplace proceedings “are quite different” and adding: “The essence of this disciplinary process is in any event not punishment – the objective is the maintenance of public confidence in the reputation of the House and the integrity of its members.”
They also did not uphold the MP’s points around the standards committee decision not having been unanimous, and said that further health evidence which she had submitted was “not fresh [and] could have been presented before the committee”, adding: “Her claim that she panicked and made poor decisions because of it is barely credible.”
A report by the panel concluded: “This has undoubtedly been a distressing and humiliating experience for [Ms Ferrier]; she is hugely apologetic and remorseful [and] the consequences for her and her family have been dire. However, [she] acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent, putting her own interests above the public interest.”
Ms Ferrier called her Covid rule breach “undoubtedly the biggest mistake of my life” and told the panel: “It is important to note that although I made a mistake – and I accept, a very big mistake – it is one I have paid for very dearly over the past few years, reputationally, emotionally and financially.”
The length of her proposed Commons suspension, which will now be voted on by MPs, means that a petition can be opened in Rutherglen & Hamilton West to call for a by-election and would need the support of 10 per cent of the constituency’s 81,000 voters.
Both Labour and the SNP have already begun campaigning in the seat with visits from both party leaders and Ms Ferrier noting in her appeal evidence that “intense campaigning began the same day the [committee] report was published; media reporting portrays a by-election as a foregone conclusion.”
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