By-election triggered by recall of MP

Independent MP Fiona Onasanya has lost her seat in the House of Commons after more than 27 per cent of registered voters in her Peterborough constituency signed a recall petition demanding her removal.

The 35-year-old lawyer, who was jailed for perverting the course of justice, becomes the first MP ever to be removed by the recall process, introduced by David Cameron in 2015.

Some 19,261 people signed the petition – 27.64 per cent of those eligible to take part and well above the 10 per cent threshold for a recall.

The successful petition now triggers a by-election in the Peterborough constituency, in which Ms Onasanya is permitted to stand.

Ms Onasanya was first elected to Parliament as a Labour MP by a wafer-thin majority of 607 in 2017.

A year later, she was charged with perverting the course of justice after lying about a speeding offence. She was expelled by Labour after her conviction and served less than four weeks of a threemonth prison sentence earlier this year.

Labour said it will move a writ for the by-election today.