By-election to be held after COVID rule-breaker MP Margaret Ferrier loses seat

A by-election will be held in the constituency of an MP who was punished for breaking COVID rules.

Margaret Ferrier – who travelled by train despite knowing she had coronavirus in 2020 – says she will not stand in the contest.

She lost her parliamentary seat in Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency in Scotland following a successful recall petition.

In 2021 she was charged by police and ordered to undertake 270 hours of unpaid work after admitting culpably and recklessly exposing the public “to the risk of infection, illness and death” as a result of her behaviour.

She was subsequently suspended from the Commons for 30 days, which triggered the recall petition.

In a statement, Ms Ferrier said: “I respect the outcome of the petition.

“It has been the privilege of my life to serve as the member of parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West. I have always put my job and my constituents first, and I am disappointed that this will now come to an end.

“I decided some time ago that I would not stand in the upcoming by-election. This has been a difficult and taxing process that has now come to its conclusion and I do not wish to prolong it further.

“I would like to thank my team for their loyalty and continued dedication to supporting me in delivering for my constituents.”

The petition – signed by more than 10% of the constituency’s electorate – opened on 20 June and closed at 5pm on Monday. South Lanarkshire Council announced the results on Tuesday.

Posting on social media, the local authority said out of the 81,123 electorate, 11,896 (14.66%) people signed the petition. A total of 37 returns were rejected.

Three other MPs have also faced recall petitions previously, but there has never been one in Scotland since the procedure was introduced in 2015.

Ms Ferrier won the seat for the SNP in the 2019 general election but was later forced to sit as an independent after losing the party whip when her COVID breach came to light.

Both Scottish Labour and the SNP have their eye on the seat. Labour plans to put forward teacher Michael Shanks as their candidate, while SNP will field Katy Loudon.

The Scottish Conservatives have also vowed to battle for the seat, with Glasgow councillor Thomas Kerr the party’s chosen candidate.

MSP Meghan Gallacher, depute leader of the Scottish Tories, said: “Margaret Ferrier’s constituents have delivered a very clear verdict on her reckless and selfish actions at the height of the pandemic.

“Of course, this by-election would have happened a lot sooner if she had done the right thing and resigned as an MP straight away. Instead, she brazenly stuck it out to the bitter end, which was a total insult to her constituents who made huge sacrifices during COVID.”

What did Margaret Ferrier do?

Ms Ferrier developed COVID symptoms on Saturday 26 September 2020, and after taking a test still went to church and had lunch with a family member the following day.

The rules at the time stated Ms Ferrier should have been isolating until she received her test result.

On the Monday, still awaiting the result of the test, she travelled by train to London, took part in a Commons debate and ate in the members’ tearoom in parliament.

That evening she received a text telling her the test was positive but instead of isolating, she travelled back to Scotland by train the following morning.

‘I have grown as a result of my actions’

Ms Ferrier ignored numerous calls to resign.

After the Commons Standards Committee recommended that Ms Ferrier be suspended for 30 days, she appealed against the decision.

She said: “While I of course deeply regret my actions, I have also grown as a result of them.

“There are ways they have made me a better parliamentarian, reminding me of the privilege that I hold in this job and the way that my words and actions can impact in positive ways, too.

“It is why, despite all the hard part of remaining in the public eye, I have not shirked my responsibilities and have continued to regularly attend parliament and engage with my constituents.”

In May, an independent expert panel upheld the original judgement and Ms Ferrier was subsequently suspended.

The panel said she “acted selfishly”, adding: “She acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent.”