Clamour grows for ex-Labour MP Mike Amesbury to give up because it emerges he’ll preserve getting £91,000 taxpayer wage regardless of being jailed for punch assault
Ex-Labour MP Mike Amesbury is facing a growing clamour to quit today after he was jailed for punching a constituent in the street.
The 55-year-old has been ordered to serve 10 weeks in prison after admitting to drunkenly attacking a man in Frodsham, Cheshire, last October.
But Amesbury will still be entitled to his £91,000 salary as Runcorn & Helsby MP unless he resigns, as the process of forcing a by-election could take months.
He has been sitting as an Independent since he was suspended by Labour after his arrest last year.
Touring broadcast studios this morning, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said his constituents needed new representation as soon as possible.
‘I want to see him either obviously resign or face recall, and so that we can have a new MP in place,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Mike Amesbury, pictured arriving at his sentencing hearing, was ordered to serve 10 weeks in prison after admitting to drunkenly attacking a man in Frodsham, Cheshire, last October
Touring broadcast studios this morning, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (pictured) said his constituents needed new representation as soon as possible
Pressed on whether she thought Amesbury should be receiving full pay, Ms Cooper said: ‘I think you’re asking me about parliamentary rules and procedure, which are obviously separate from those that the Government runs … I’m making my view clear, which is that I want to see the people of Runcorn get new representation as swiftly as possible.’
A recall petition can be launched after a custodial sentence for an MP, but it must wait for appeals to be exhausted and stay open for six weeks. There is also the possibility of a Commons standards process.
Nigel Farage‘s Reform are eyeing a by-election breakthrough in Runcorn and Helsby after coming second to Amesbury in the seat at last July’s general election.
Amesbury, who has been an MP since 2017, won the constituency with a 14,696-vote majority last summer as part of Labour‘s landslide victory.
But Sir Keir’s bumpy start to life as PM means Labour are set to face a much tougher battle as they seek to hold on to the constituency at a likely by-election.
The Tories came third at July’s general election, more than 900 votes behind Reform.
A spokesman for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority confirmed Amesbury will still receive his £91,346 salary while in jail.
‘He will continue to be paid as an MP,’ they said.
‘The Parliamentary Standards Act states that MPs receive a salary until they cease being an MP for any reason: IPSA has no discretion over this.’
Amesbury has been sitting as an independent MP in the House of Commons since being suspended by Labour following his arrest last year.
He claimed he was ‘threatened’ before the attack in his Cheshire constituency in the early hours of October 26.
But CCTV footage, exclusively obtained by MailOnline, at the time showed him throwing a punch seemingly without physical provocation.
Amesbury then continuing to hit the man multiple times while he lay on the ground.
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK are eyeing a by-election breakthrough in Runcorn and Helsby after coming second to Amesbury in the seat at last July’s general election
The politician was filmed striking constituent Paul Fellows after the pair had a heated discussion by a taxi rank at 2am in Amesbury’s home town.
He then punched Mr Fellows, 45, five times as he lay on the floor in what a court heard was an unprovoked assault.
As Amesbury was handed a 10-week jail sentence at HMP Altcourse and ordered to pay a £280 fine, Judge Tan Ikram said: ‘Your reference to being a Member of Parliament brings negative impact for the office you are privileged to hold.
‘Your position means you ought to be a role model to others, that’s something you ought to be mindful of in everything you do.’
Judge Ikram refused an immediate request for bail pending an appeal against sentence.
