MP Margaret Ferrier Suspended Over COVID-19 Rule Breach

Then Scottish National Party (SNP) MP Margaret Ferrier speaks in the House of Commons, London, on Oct. 28, 2020. (Parliament TV)

Independent MP Margaret Ferrier has been suspended from the House of Commons for 30 days for breaching COVID-19 rules in 2020 by travelling by train from Scotland to England while positive for the virus.

MPs voted 185 to 40, majority 145, to approve the motion to suspend the former Scottish National Party (SNP) MP.

She could now face a by-election in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.

Under Parliament rules, a by-election can be held if an MP is suspended for 10 sitting days or more. For this to happen, however, 10 percent of registered voters in the constituency need to sign a recall petition.

‘Recklessness’

Ferrier, who was elected as an SNP MP in December 2019, was suspended from her party after admitting she had travelled on a train between London and Scotland in September 2020—despite having tested positive for COVID-19.

In August 2022, Ferrier pleaded guilty to breaching COVID-19 rules and admitted “culpably and recklessly exposing the public” to the risk of “infection, illness, and death.”

She was subsequently ordered by a court to complete a 270-hour community payback order.

The Commons Standards Committee in March recommended that Ferrier should be suspended for 30 days, but she appealed against the decision.

Last month, an Independent Expert Panel dismissed her appeal, saying that “none of the grounds had substance” and that “the sanction imposed was neither unreasonable nor disproportionate.”

The panel added: “She acted with blatant and deliberate dishonest intent. She acted with a high degree of recklessness to the public and to colleagues and staff at the House of Commons. She acted selfishly, putting her own interests above the public interest. There could therefore be no lesser sanction for this conduct.”

By-election Looms

All major political parties in Scotland welcomed the MPs’ decision and called for a by-election in Ferrier’s constituency.

The SNP’s by-election campaign coordinator David Linden MP said: “There must now be a by-election, which the SNP has been calling for since Ms. Ferrier’s COVID-19 rule-breach first came to light in 2020.”

He said the SNP will put the cost of living, the National Health Service, and Scottish independence at the heart of its campaign.

Michael Shanks, Labour’s candidate in the potential by-election, said “This is welcome news for those of us who live here, but it is a disgrace that Margaret Ferrier has dragged this process out for so long, leaving her constituents unrepresented in Parliament.”

He added, “I want to be the local champion this area deserves, and I am ready to fight for every vote and deliver the change Rutherglen and Hamilton West needs.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “I welcome today’s news because it’s important that we all take responsibility for the decisions we make, especially where public safety is involved. Scottish Liberal Democrats are unequivocally in favour of a recall petition and a by-election.

“Not only is this a chance to give Rutherglen and Hamilton West the representation it deserves, it is also a chance to send a message to the new SNP first minister that people are sick of the divisive and out-of-touch politics he and his party represent.”

Support for Ferrier

The Commons voting list showed 32 Conservative MPs among those who had voted to reject the suspension vote in support of Ferrier.

They included Daniel Kawczynski, former ministers David Davis and Jacob Rees-Mogg, and Tory grandees Sir Bill Cash and Sir Edward Leigh.

Former Tory MP Andrew Bridgen, who now represents the Reclaim Party, also voted to reject the motion, as did Alba Party MPs Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill, and the Democratic Unionist Party MPs Gregory Campbell and Gavin Robinson.

PA Media contributed to this report.