PARLIAMENTARIANS in Worcestershire have voted for measures which will give people the chance to sack their MP between elections.

Your Worcester News can reveal how county MPs have supported the Recall Bill, which will now be sent to the House of Lords in anticipation of becoming law.

It means a by-election would be triggered if 10 per cent of constituents sign a petition after an MP is found guilty of "serious wrongdoing" by parliament.

They also agreed to reduce the length of time that an MP would have to be suspended from the Commons to trigger a recall process from 21 to just 10 days.

The move is aimed to making sure rogue MPs can be removed if a large enough portion of their voters believe they have done wrong.

It also stops badly-behaving MPs from clinging on to their seats until election time.

Harriett Baldwin, who represents West Worcestershire, said: "If MPs commit serious wrong-doing they should have to answer to the electorate before the next election.

"However, they should not face recall just for holding unpopular political opinions - that’s part of the job description at times.

"This bill is another important step towards showing people that as MPs, we have listened to the general public and are bringing even greater accountability to parliament for those who transgress."

The bill will mean any MP convicted of expenses fraud will be subject to recall, and politicians also face possible sackings if any old crimes they have committed come to light retrospectively.

MPs now suspended for 10 days can be subject to recall, instead of the old figure in the bill of 25.

Worcester MP Robin Walker, who also backed it, said: "It is absolutely the right thing to do, and I did vote for most of the measures to strengthen the Bill.

"Including the bit on expenses is very important as that was mainly the reason this came up in parliament in the first place."

Mr Walker voted against reducing the suspension clause from 25 days to 10, saying it would give the speaker of the house too much power.

At the moment the speaker can suspend an MP for 20 days if they believe they have breached commons standards.

Sir Peter Luff, who represents Mid-Worcestershire, said: "I think it strikes the right balance in what it is trying to achieve, because it allows constituents to punish serious wrongdoing."