The constituents of former Labour MP Mike Amesbury “deserve better representation”, the home secretary has said.
Amesbury, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, has been jailed for 10 weeks after punching a man in the street. He pleaded guilty to assault by beating of 45-year-old Paul Fellows in Main Street, Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of 26 October.
As well as a 10-week jail sentence, Amesbury, 55, must pay £200 compensation to Mr Fellows. He will also not be allowed back into the Labour Party, which suspended him shortly after the incident. A request for Amesbury to be granted bail pending an appeal was denied at Chester Magistrates’ Court.
Amesbury’s lawyer indicated he will appeal the sentence.
Asked whether Amesbury should keep his job, Yvette Cooper said that the people of Runcorn and Helsby “deserve better representation”.
This should come about by having “a newly elected Labour MP”, she told Sky News.
“I think they did really deserve better than this. It’s completely unacceptable what has happened.”
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Cooper continued: “We need to have a newly elected Labour MP for them to get the better representation that I think that they deserve.
“There’s a long standing parliamentary rules, which are separate from the decisions that government makes, but the action we took as soon as this happened was to make sure that Mike Amesbury would no longer be a Labour MP, would no longer be a member of the Labour Party.
“We took that action immediately because clearly it’s totally unacceptable what has happened.”
MPs who receive a custodial sentence, even if it is suspended, automatically trigger a recall petition which could result in a by-election if 10 per cent of constituents sign it. However, this will have to wait until the appeal period is over.
Amesbury has been sitting as an independent MP in the House of Commons ever since he was suspended by the Labour Party in October.
Reform UK, who came second in Runcorn and Helsby at the general election, has called for Amesbury “to do the honourable thing and resign immediately”.
Reform chairman Zia Yusuf said in a statement: “Today Mike Amesbury has been sentenced to 10 weeks in prison.
“The great people of Runcorn deserve far better than waiting six weeks for a recall.
“We call on Mike Amesbury to do the honourable thing and resign immediately so a by-election can be held.”
Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, has said it is “extraordinary” that a member of parliament can continue to claim his salary from prison.
Parliament has confirmed that, under the Parliamentary Standards Act, MPs continue to receive their salary until they cease to be MPs.
Atkins told Sky News: “I think the public and indeed members of parliament have been disgusted by this.
“I find it extraordinary that someone can claim their salary from their prison cell when their job is to be here in parliament representing their constituents.
“I think the government needs to look at this.”
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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