Mike Amesbury: Jailed Cheshire MP faces calls to quit Commons

MP Mike Amesbury has been urged to quit as it emerged he will still get paid while serving time in prison for repeatedly punching a man in his Cheshire constituency.

The Runcorn and Helsby MP, who has been suspended from the Labour Party, was jailed for 10 weeks at Chester Magistrates’ Court on Monday after admitting the assault, which was caught on CCTV footage.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called on him to resign or face recall so his constituents can have a new MP but said the government had no remit relating to MPs pay.

The Independent Parliament Standards Authority (IPSA), which regulates MPs’ pay, said the rules mean that until a member is suspended as a result of a House of Commons disciplinary procedure they must be paid their salary.

Amesbury had the whip suspended by the Labour Party after video of the brawl emerged, and has been sitting as an independent MP since October.

Yvette Cooper said: “I’m making my view clear, which is that I want to see the people of Runcorn get new representation as swiftly as possible.”

The minister was being interviewed on the day the government puts its new Crime and Policing Bill to the Commons.

Cooper said Amesbury’s behaviour was “completely unacceptable”, that the Labour Party had taken immediate action and that he was no longer a sitting MP.

Asked on BBC Breakfast if Labour had been reluctant to call for his resignation because it feared facing Reform, Cooper said: “No, we look forward to having that by-election.

“There is a recall process and it is right that those processes should be in place.”

Conservative co-chairman Nigel Huddleston called on Amesbury to “do the right thing and resign”, adding that constituents “deserve an MP who is able to stand up for them in Parliament”.

Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf also called on the 55-year-old MP to quit immediately, adding: “The great people of Runcorn deserve far better than waiting six weeks for a recall petition to take place.”

At an earlier court hearing, Amesbury pleaded guilty to assaulting 45-year-old Paul Fellows.

Video footage widely shared on social media showed a confrontation in the Cheshire town of Frodsham in the early hours of 26 October.

Sitting at Chester Magistrates’ Court, Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram said a pre-sentence report showed Amesbury’s actions were the result of “anger and loss of emotional control”.

Under Parliamentary rules, a Westminster by-election can be forced if 10% of registered voters in the constituency of an MP jailed or given a suspended custodial sentence sign a petition calling for one.

The recall process can only be triggered once all avenues of appeal against a custodial sentence have been exhausted.

As a result he will still be drawing his £91k salary even for the four weeks he is expected to serve in jail. An announcement about an appeal against his sentence is expected later this week.

Amesbury won the newly formed seat of Runcorn and Helsby in July’s general election, with a majority of more than 14,000 over Reform UK.

He was first elected as MP for Weaver Vale in 2017 and represented the Cheshire constituency before it ceased to exist following last year’s boundary changes.

The Labour spokesperson said: “The Labour Party took swift action following Mike Amesbury’s completely unacceptable actions and he is no longer a Labour MP or a member of the Labour Party.

“It is right that Mr Amesbury pleaded guilty and has now been sentenced.”