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<\/p>\nEx-Tory minister Chris Pincher is to quit the House of Commons after losing an appeal against his eight-week suspension from Parliament.<\/p>\n
The former Conservative deputy chief whip\u00a0failed in his bid to overturn the finding of a probe that he ‘groped’ two people in a bar last year.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
It means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces two tricky by-elections around the time of the Conservative Party conference in October.<\/p>\n
The Mid Bedfordshire seat is already up for grabs after ex-Cabinet minister Nadine Dorries confirmed her resignation from the Commons last month.<\/p>\n
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Ex-Tory minister Chris Pincher is to quit the House of Commons after losing an appeal against his eight-week suspension from Parliament<\/p>\n
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It means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces two tricky by-elections around the time of the Conservative Party conference in October<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He was subsequently suspended from the Tory parliamentary party and has since sat in the Commons as an independent MP.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
‘However, following the Independent Expert Panel’s decision I wanted to talk to my office team and family.<\/p>\n
‘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.<\/p>\n
‘Tamworth is a wonderful place and it has been an honour to represent its people.<\/p>\n
‘I shall make no further comment at this time.’<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
His actions were described as ‘unwanted, inappropriate and upsetting’, in what amounted to an ‘egregious case of sexual misconduct’.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n