Rishi Sunak has refused to endorse the partner of the disgraced former Conservative MP Peter Bone to replace him as the party’s candidate in the Wellingborough byelection. Helen Harrison’s selection on Sunday has drawn controversy given the byelection was triggered after more than 10% of local voters signed a petition to recall Bone after revelations about his behaviour. Bone, who had held the seat with a majority since 2005, was recalled after the parliamentary watchdog found he had broken the MPs’ code of conduct on four counts of bullying and one of sexual misconduct. At his first PM Connect event of the year, the prime minister was asked if he was “proud” Harrison was selected given her connection to Bone. Sunak dodged the opportunity to give his support to the Tory candidate, instead telling an audience at Accrington Stanley Football Club on Monday: “Candidate selection is done locally, so local members in their area can choose a given candidate, that’s how it works in our party. “We believe in empowering people locally, that’s how we do it and that’s the same with all byelections.” Responding to a question on whether he would be ready to campaign in the constituency with Harrison, he said: “Of course I want to win all byelections.” His remarks came after Bone was forced to deny reports that he had threatened to stand as an independent if the Conservatives did not include his girlfriend on their shortlist of candidates. Bone denied the report in the Sunday Times, noting it would have been “entirely unsurprising” if Harrison, who serves as a councillor on North Northamptonshire council, was selected. The prime minister used the event held on the first day of the parliamentary term to warn voters they can either vote for him and stick with the Conservatives “long-term plan”, or vote for Labour and go “back to square one”. Sunak launched a number of fierce attacks on the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, who he claimed did not have a plan to stop the boats, but “just snipes from the sidelines instead”. But when asked if he had ever discussed scrapping the Rwanda scheme during the 2022 Tory leadership campaign, Sunak told the audience: “I didn’t say I was going to scrap it. I mean that’s completely false. Of course I didn’t.” He did say it was his job as then chancellor “to ask some probing questions” and scrutinise money spent on taxpayers’ behalf. It follows reports in the Sun that suggested he considered campaigning on a promise to ditch the scheme during his unsuccessful bid for the leadership against Liz Truss, but was warned off the idea on the grounds it would upset Conservative MPs. Stressing his determination to get the scheme running, he said the “long-term solution to this problem is to have a deterrent”, adding that the government was already making progress on “stopping the boats” but needed the added deterrence of the Rwanda plan. In an effort to come across to voters as plain-talking, the prime minister called for the need to be “frank” as he admitted not enough progress had been made in reducing NHS waiting lists. “Although we’ve virtually eliminated the people waiting the longest, we haven’t yet made a significant enough dent in the waiting lists,” he said, partly blaming strikes.