Rishi Sunak faces the prospect of another byelection headache after the former Tory MP Chris Pincher lost an appeal against an eight-week suspension from parliament.
A report in July said Pincher had committed an “abuse of power” by drunkenly groping two men at the Carlton Club in London the previous summer.
Pincher appealed against the suspension but not the findings. On Monday it emerged that he had been unsuccessful.
An independent expert panel (IEP) found that the original committee that investigated him “approached this task properly, with the correct considerations in mind”.
Pincher claimed the incidents happened while he was off duty and therefore acting in a personal capacity.
He also argued he had not broken the parliamentary code of conduct, which says MPs should not bring the Commons into disrepute. Instead, he said the reputational damage incurred was specifically to him and Boris Johnson, the then prime minister.
But the IEP dismissed those claims as “misconceived or erroneous” and ruled that the eight-week suspension was proportionate.
Pincher was at the Carlton Club that night “to speak as a member of the government” at an event hosted by the Conservative Friends of Cyprus, the IEP said.
“He re-entered the Carlton Club in the hope that he could rejoin this same event, or at least interact with the attenders, including other MPs, parliamentary staff and civil servants,” the report said.
Turning to Pincher’s second argument, the IEP called it “naive and unrealistic”. It said it was obvious that the incident and Johnson’s resignation that followed “added to the current declined reputation” of MPs generally.
In a further attempt to avoid a byelection, Pincher tried to argue that the suspension should be reduced because due consideration should be given “to the question of intent”.
Pincher said he “never thought to act with impunity”, had resigned from the government promptly after, apologised to the victims and announced he would not seek to stand as an MP at the next general election.
Those were taken into account, but the IEP said in many other workplaces those actions would probably have “led to disqualification or suspension for periods of years, often with compulsory DBS checks before any return to work would be possible”.
MPs will now have to vote on the proposed eight-week suspension. The motion must be tabled by the government and cannot be amended or debated.
If the punishment is endorsed, a recall petition will be opened. Were 10% of voters in his constituency to sign it, a byelection would be called.
Should Pincher choose to stand down then a byelection would automatically be triggered, though the date for it would be announced by the government.
His Tamworth seat should be a comfortable hold for the Conservatives. In 2019, Pincher had a majority just shy of 20,000 votes.
If a byelection goes ahead, it will be another headache for Sunak given the Conservatives are still polling well behind Labour. He is already facing the prospect of a byelection in Mid-Bedfordshire after Nadine Dorries’s resignation.
