Ex-Tory minister Chris Pincher to quit as an MP after losing appeal against eight-week Commons suspension for ‘groping’ to leave Rishi Sunak facing double by-election nightmare next month
Ex-Tory minister Chris Pincher is to quit the House of Commons after losing an appeal against his eight-week suspension from Parliament.
The former Conservative deputy chief whip failed in his bid to overturn the finding of a probe that he ‘groped’ two people in a bar last year.
The 53-year-old is now set to trigger a by-election in his Tamworth constituency in the coming weeks by resigning from the Commons.
It means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces two tricky by-elections around the time of the Conservative Party conference in October.
The Mid Bedfordshire seat is already up for grabs after ex-Cabinet minister Nadine Dorries confirmed her resignation from the Commons last month.
Ex-Tory minister Chris Pincher is to quit the House of Commons after losing an appeal against his eight-week suspension from Parliament
It means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces two tricky by-elections around the time of the Conservative Party conference in October
Mr Pincher quit as the Conservative deputy chief whip in June last year following claims he drunkenly groped two men at a posh London members’ club.
He was subsequently suspended from the Tory parliamentary party and has since sat in the Commons as an independent MP.
Earlier this week, it was revealed Mr Pincher had lost his appeal against an eight-week suspension over the allegations about his behaviour at the exclusive Carlton Club last year.
It meant he faced the prospect of losing his Commons seat through a recall petition due to the length of his suspension, if the punishment was rubber-stamped by MPs.
Announcing he would now quit as an MP, Mr Pincher said in a statement this morning: ‘I have said already that I will not stand at the next general election.
‘However, following the Independent Expert Panel’s decision I wanted to talk to my office team and family.
‘I do not want my constituents to be put to further uncertainty, and so in consequence I have made arrangements to resign and leave the Commons.
‘Tamworth is a wonderful place and it has been an honour to represent its people.
‘I shall make no further comment at this time.’
The Commons Standards Committee in July recommended a lengthy suspension for Mr Pincher after it found the MP’s conduct last summer was ‘profoundly damaging’ and amounted to an abuse of power.
His actions were described as ‘unwanted, inappropriate and upsetting’, in what amounted to an ‘egregious case of sexual misconduct’.
A fierce row over Boris Johnson’s handling of the claims against Mr Pincher last year caused a fresh mutiny among Tory MPs against the then PM’s leadership and his downfall as premier came days later in early July.
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