Julian Knight has been suspended as a Conservative MP after a complaint was made to the Metropolitan Police, a party spokeswoman has said. She declined to comment on the nature of the complaint as it is now under investigation.
Mr Knight, who has been an MP since 2015, chairs the culture committee in the House of Commons. He represents the Solihull constituency in the West Midlands, but will now sit as an independent.
A spokeswoman for Chief Whip Simon Hart said: “Following a complaint made to the Metropolitan Police this evening, we have removed the whip from Julian Knight MP with immediate effect.” The chief whip is in charge of discipline within the parliamentary party. He also has the power to remove the whip from an MP, meaning they can no longer sit in Parliament as a Conservative MP. Mr Knight becomes the fifth MP to currently have the Conservative whip removed.
Speculation is pointless - the truth will out - but imaginations will run riot …
What is it with these people. Do they not realise that they are under scrutiny all the time and that there are those out there who make it their business to sniff out scandal.
On Thursday, the Met said in a statement that on 28 October it had received allegations of serious sexual assault against unnamed victims reported to have taken place on unknown dates at undisclosed locations.
The statement added: “On 7 December, a further referral relating to the incident[s] was made and an investigation was launched.”
Police said inquiries were ongoing and there have been no arrests.
So … it’s sex … and the plural use may indicate multiple offences …
Why can’t they get suspended for something intriguing? Stealing papers, documents…with a plan to use them as blackmail, or a huge bribe? No…its always a quick fumble or a smutty remark.
For anybody reading the threads on this site they’d think it was only the Tories who did misdemeanours how come threads don’t get started about MPs from other parties:
Nick Brown (ex-Labour) – Ex-chief whip suspended over an investigation into a complaint against him
Jeremy Corbyn (ex-Labour) – Suspended for his reaction to the EHRC report into antisemitism within Labour, in which he defended his leadership by saying “the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated”
Jonathan Edwards (ex-Plaid) – Suspended in 2020 after arrest on suspicion of assault. Whip restored in August however Edwards said he wouldn’t be re-joining the Plaid group in Westminster
Patrick Grady (ex-SNP) – Suspended in June 2022 after being found to have made an ‘unwanted sexual advance’ towards a teenager at a social gathering in 2016
Rupa Huq (ex-Labour) – Suspended after Guido published audio footage of her calling Kwasi Kwarteng “superficially black” at Labour’s 2022 conference.
Chris Pincher (ex-Conservative) – Suspended after being reported to the independent complaints and grievance scheme after allegedly groping two men while drunk at the Carlton Club
Rob Roberts (ex-Conservative) – Suspended after Commons complaints panel found he broke sexual misconduct policy, following revelations by Guido of repeated and unwanted sexual advances towards a male former member of staff
Claudia Webbe (ex-Labour) – Suspended after being charged with harassment of a woman over a period of nearly two years
Neil Coyle (ex-Labour) – Suspended after making Sinophobic comments to a journalist while drunk in Strangers Bar
Margaret Ferrier (ex-SNP) – Suspended in 2020 after allegations emerged she’d travelled from Scotland to London despite having Covid symptoms, and then back to Scotland after testing positive
Matt Hancock (ex-Conservative) – Suspended for going on I’m A Celebrity
Conor McGinn (ex-Labour) – Suspended after a complaint was lodged against him under the party’s complaints process
Christina Rees (ex-Labour) – Suspended over alleged bullying of constituency staff
David Warburton (ex-Conservative) – Whip withdrawn after a series of allegations related to sexual harassment and cocaine use
Julian Knight (ex-Conservative) – Whip removed after a complaint about him was made to the Met Police
It’s not often that a Prime Minister breaks his own law whilst in office and receives a fixed penalty notice or a Health Minister acts unlawfully, though …