Reform MP who assaulted woman will not face suspension, says deputy leader

McMurdock was convicted when he was a teenager for kicking his ex-girlfriend ‘around four times’ in 2006. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

A Reform MP who was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend 18 years ago will not be suspended and would pass the party’s new vetting process, the party’s deputy leader has said.

Richard Tice has defended James McMurdock’s assault on his ex-girlfriend as a “mistake” and said his fellow MP was “doing brilliantly”.