Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

By-election looms as Neil Parish officially resigns after watching porn in Commons

The Tories won a 24,000 majority in the Tiverton and Honiton seat in 2019

Ashley Cowburn
Political Correspondent
Wednesday 04 May 2022 16:23 BST
Comments
Former Tory MP Neil Parish
Former Tory MP Neil Parish (UK Parliament/AFP/Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Former Conservative MP Neil Parish has formally resigned after admitting to watching pornography in the Commons in a “moment of madness”.

The MP for Tiverton and Honiton became the focus of a political storm last week after two female colleagues reported him to party whips for watching adult content in the chamber.

After initially indicating he would remain in post, Mr Parish announced in a televised interview at the weekend his intention to resign, admitting his actions were “totaly wrong”.

He told the BBC that the first time was an accident, claiming he had been looking for photographs of tractors, but admitted the second occasion was “deliberate”.

On Wednesday, a statement from the Treasury said: “The chancellor of the Exchequer has this day appointed Neil Quentin Gordon Parish to be steward and bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.”

Appointing Mr Parish to the unpaid position is an archaic mechanism which allows him to formally resign as an MP and begin the process of electing his successor.

It will now be down to the Tory whips when to move the writ in the Commons – setting the date for the Tiverton and Honiton by-election – after MPs return on 10 May.

The ultra-safe Conservative seat in east Devon delivered a 24,000 majority at the 2019 election when Boris Johnson won the largest Tory majority for decades.

It comes after another former Tory MP, Imran Ahmad Khan, formally resigned as the MP for Wakefield on Tuesday – three weeks after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Khan announced his intention to resign on 14 April but did not complete the formalities until last week, meaning he received his full taxpayer-funded salary for last month.

A by-election for Wakefield – the at turned blue for the first time since the 1930s at the 2019 general election – is now likely to occur on the same date as Tiverton and Honiton, but there will be intense pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to demonstrated he is able to win back a former red-wall seat.

Speaking on Wednesday, the Labour leader said: “We will put up an excellent candidate and what I hope is that Wakefield can have a strong Labour MP that will represent and fight for Wakefield.

“Because what we have seen is a disgraced Tory MP who has been completely absent for over a year now, not fighting for his constituents, and Wakefield deserves so much better than that. The sooner we have a Labour MP fiercely defending and representing his or her constituents, the better.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in