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| MP Patrick Mercer resigns Commons seat in wake of lobbying allegations | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Patrick Mercer, a former Conservative frontbencher, has dramatically resigned his seat after he allegedly asked questions in parliament in exchange for thousands of pounds from a fake lobbying firm. | |
| His resignation will trigger a byelection in his Newark seat, likely to be held after the European elections next month in which Ukip is leading the Tories in the poll, prompting questions about whether Nigel Farage might choose to stand. | |
| MPs on the cross-party standards committee decided at a meeting on Tuesday to recommend that Mercer should be suspended from parliament for six months when it publishes a report into the allegations on Thursday. | MPs on the cross-party standards committee decided at a meeting on Tuesday to recommend that Mercer should be suspended from parliament for six months when it publishes a report into the allegations on Thursday. |
| The magazine The Week first reported the committee's decision on Tuesday afternoon. The Guardian independently confirmed the decision. | The magazine The Week first reported the committee's decision on Tuesday afternoon. The Guardian independently confirmed the decision. |
| Mercer has been sitting as an independent MP after he resigned the Tory whip last year in the wake of the allegations. | |
| Mercer won the seat with a comfortable majority of 16,152 at the 2010 general election in which Ukip came a distant fourth on 1,954 votes. | |
| But there may be nervousness in Downing Street that Ukip could put in a strong performance in a byelection in the wake of the European parliamentary elections that Nigel Farage is on course to win. | |
| The annoucement will put pressure on Farage to decide whether to stand. Farage has said he would be prepared to stand in the byelection after next month's European elections. But the Ukip leader, who declined to stand in the Eastleigh byelection where the party had a strong base, will act cautiously in Newark where his party came a distant fourth in the 2010 general election. | |
| The recommendation of a six-month suspension by the standards committee is one of the most severe penalties that can be imposed on an MP. Mercer resigned the Tory whip last year "to save my party embarrassment" after he accepted £4,000 from undercover reporters posing as lobbyists. He failed to declare £2,000 of the money. | The recommendation of a six-month suspension by the standards committee is one of the most severe penalties that can be imposed on an MP. Mercer resigned the Tory whip last year "to save my party embarrassment" after he accepted £4,000 from undercover reporters posing as lobbyists. He failed to declare £2,000 of the money. |
| Journalists working for the BBC Panorama programme recorded Mercer agreeing to set up a parliamentary group to campaign for the return of Fiji to the Commonwealth. Panorama reported that Mercer has submitted five parliamentary questions in relation to the new group. | Journalists working for the BBC Panorama programme recorded Mercer agreeing to set up a parliamentary group to campaign for the return of Fiji to the Commonwealth. Panorama reported that Mercer has submitted five parliamentary questions in relation to the new group. |