MARGARET Ferrier’s 30-day suspension from the Commons looks set to be confirmed today, triggering a recall petition in Rutherglen and Hamilton West. 

Parliament’s Standards Committee recommended the unprecedented sanction for the former SNP politician’s Covid rule breaches at the height of lockdown. 

If MPs back the lengthy punishment in a vote at around 5pm this afternoon, the Speaker will then notify the Petitions Officer in South Lanarkshire, who will then open a recall petition, with signing stations opened across the constituency.

If, over the course of six weeks, 10 per cent of her constituents add their names to the petition, Ms Ferrier will lose her job, triggering a by-election.

READ MORE: Margaret Ferrier: SNP MP calls for former colleague to stand down

It is not clear how many of her former SNP colleagues will vote to effectively end the disgraced politician's career. 

The party’s one MP on the Commons Standards Committee backed attempts to soften the punishment.

Allan Dorans voted for Ferrier to be suspended for nine sitting days. Had that passed it would have killed off any chance of a recall petition. 

Under the procedure - established in the wake of the expenses scandal - it can only be triggered by a suspension of at least 10 sitting days.

Joanna Cherry also criticised colleagues, saying the way Ferrier had been treated by some in the SNP as “shameful.” 

“She is a thoroughly decent woman who made a bad mistake for which she has already paid dearly,” she tweeted. 

And as the vote is expected at 5pm on a Thursday afternoon, it is likely that some SNP MPs will be travelling back to Scotland. 

READ MORE: Dishonest, selfish and reckless: Panel's brutal verdict on Ferrier as appeal fails

Nevertheless, the SNP has confirmed that they will officially campaign for Ferrier to lose her seat. 

Under the Recall Act 2015, parties, organisations and individuals can register with the Petitions Officer and spend up to £10,000 on the petition. 

Ferrier was found guilty of culpable and reckless conduct at Glasgow Sheriff Court last August after she admitted travelling on a train in September 2020 despite knowing she had Covid. 

The MP also spoke in the House of Commons and visited a number of locations in Glasgow, including a mass in Mungo’s church and a bar in Prestwick, Ayrshire, while waiting on the results of a Covid test.

After the positive result came through, she lied to colleagues and said she had to go home to visit a sick relative. 

She was ordered to carry out 270 hours of community service after pleading guilty to wilfully exposing people “to the risk of infection, illness and death”.

In his investigation, Daniel Greenberg, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, said Ms Ferrier had breached paragraph 11 of the MP's Code of Conduct “by placing her own personal interest of not wishing to self-isolate immediately or in London over the public interest of avoiding possible risk of harm to health and life for people she came into contact with once she had received a positive Covid-19 test result”.

He said she had also breached paragraph 17 of the Code “as her actions commencing from when she first took a Covid-19 test to when she finally begins self-isolation have caused significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, and of its Members generally”.

READ MORE: Sarwar claims SNP fear by election and demands Ferrier resigns as MP

Scottish Labour is confident of winning the seat, with the party’s deputy leader, Jackie Baillie saying they will need to do some soul-searching if they fail. 

They have selected local Modern Studies teacher Michael Shanks as their candidate.

The SNP is due to ballot local members on their candidate imminently.