David Warburton: Conservative MP suspended over harassment and medicines allegations to face down and set off by-election

A Conservative MP embroiled in a scandal has introduced he’ll stand down – triggering a by-election in his Somerton and Frome constituency, Sky News understands.

David Warburton was suspended from the social gathering in April 2022 pending the result of an Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) investigation into allegations of harassment and drug abuse.

Speaking to the Mail On Sunday, the 57-year-old stated he’ll resign his seat this weekend as a result of he was denied a good listening to by a parliamentary harassment watchdog investigating allegations that he had made undesirable advances in direction of two ladies.

He admitted to the newspaper that he had taken cocaine after ingesting “incredibly potent” Japanese whisky with a 3rd girl.

The girl secretly photographed and recorded him after he visited her flat following a late-night vote within the House of Commons.

Mr Warburton has now accused the parliamentary authorities of being “terrified” of the MeToo motion saying he “didn’t stand a chance” from the outset after the ICGS investigation was launched.

In his resignation letter he reportedly says the “malicious allegations” and “flawed” 14-month investigation “has inflicted unimaginable and intolerable destruction on my family and on me”.

Mr Warburton was first elected in 2015 with a majority of 20,268, or 53% of the vote. According to the MP’s web site, at 18.3%, this represented the most important constituency swing to the Conservative Party.

He was re-elected in 2017 and 2019, with majorities of twenty-two,906 and 19,213, respectively.

Following Mr Warburton’s announcement of his determination to step down, a Conservative Party spokesperson stated: “The IGCS is an independent body set up by parliament and the Conservative Party respects its processes. Mr Warburton had the whip withdrawn over these complaints last April and has not sat in parliament as a Conservative since.”

Mr Warburton’s departure means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his social gathering are going through one other by-election after Boris Johnson and two of his allies, Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams, introduced they’ll resign simply over every week in the past.