Fourth Tory MP quits in eight days

David Warburton's resignation over sexual harassment allegations follows the resignations of Boris Johnson, Nigel Adams and Nadine Dorries

David Warburton, the MP for Somerset and Frome, has resigned following an investigation into allegations about his conduct. PA

The resignation of another Conservative MP, the fourth in eight days, is placing renewed pressure on the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

David Warburton, who was suspended from the Conservative Party over allegations of sexual misconduct, told the Mail on Sunday of his resignation, saying that the past 14 months since allegations arose in another national newspaper had been “extraordinarily difficult”.

He added that the allegations about him had been “malicious”.

He also claimed to have been denied a fair hearing by the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme.

The Houses of Parliament in London. The Conservatives have a working majority of 60 in the House of Commons, which could be reduced after four upcoming by-elections. EPA

By-elections

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson, Nigel Adams and now Mr Warburton have all triggered by-elections in their constituencies.

The by-elections in Boris Johnson and Nigel Adams's constituencies have been scheduled for July 20.

Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries also resigned last week, although she said she wanted to stay on to investigate how she was denied a seat in the House of Lords that was on Boris Johnson's resignation honours list.

The Conservative government has a working majority of 60 in the House of Commons.

Opposition Labour's national campaign co-ordinator Shabana Mahmood said the Prime Minister was “too weak to act himself”.

“Yet again, we see a Tory MP resigning in disgrace, after Rishi Sunak was too weak to act himself. Enough is enough.”

“Britain can't afford this weak Conservative Prime Minister with a party too divided to govern as families struggle with the cost of living. It's time to turn the page on 13 years of Tory chaos. We need a general election now and a Labour government led by Keir Starmer,” she added.

Mr Warburton, who represented the Somerton and Frome constituency in the west of England, won the seat from the Liberal Democrats in 2015 and currently has a 19,213 majority.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Daisy Cooper said: “Time after time the Conservatives have mired themselves in sleaze and scandal neglecting the issues that really matter to people. Then they decided it was OK to leave local people in this seat without any proper representation at all.”

“This by-election will be a clear contest between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats – Labour finished third last time and are completely out of the race.”