Jamie Wallis: What will happen next to Bridgend MP who fled scene of crash with lamppost?

Jamie Wallis will not face any further action from the Conservative party after being convicted of three offences relating to crashing his car into a lamppost.

The Conservative MP, who represents Bridgend, was convicted of failing to stop, failing to report a road traffic collision and leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position after the crash in November 2021.

He was disqualified from driving for six months, and fined £2,500.

A spokesperson for the party's Whips Office said: “Jamie Wallis MP has been found guilty of various offences and it is right that he has been punished. We will not be taking any further action and will continue to provide welfare support.”Receiving a ban and a fine means he also won't face the threat of a by-election, at least not immediately. 

If he had been given a custodial sentence, the recall process would have automatically begun.

A recall petition is a kind of vote whereby people in the constituency can say whether or not they want the chance to choose a new MP.  

It's triggered if an MP is convicted and sent to prison or if they are convicted of breaking Parliamentary standards law. 

However it could also be triggered if the Standards Committee recommends that he should be suspended from the House of Commons, but only if that suspension is longer than 10 sitting days - or 14 days if 'sitting' isn't specified.

The Committee does not initiate an investigation: it will consider any report by the independent Standards Commissioner who only acts on complaints from the public. 

If she investigates, her report is considered by the Committee which is chaired by the Welsh Labour MP Chris Bryant. 

The Committee then recommends a course of action to the whole House of Commons which can range from an apology to suspension or expulsion.  

In 2019, the then Conservative MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, Chris Davies, faced a recall petition and lost his seat in the subsequent by-election. 

His sentence wasn't custodial but he had been convicted under section 10 of the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (making false or misleading Parliamentary allowances claims) which automatically leads to a recall petition. 

The Delyn MP Rob Roberts was suspended from the House of Commons for six weeks after being found to have sexually harassed a member of staff. 

However he didn't face a recall petition because of a loophole in the rules which prompted calls for those rules to be changed. So far they haven't. 

Last month a report from the Senedd's Standards Committee led to an apology from the Health Minister and a formal reprimand. 

Labour MS, Eluned Morgan was fined £800 at Mold Magistrate's Court in March and disqualified from driving for six months after pleading guilty to speeding.