Imran Ahmad Khan has resigned as an MP after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Khan, who represented Wakefield in West Yorkshire, has resisted calls to step down since being expelled from the Conservative Party when he was convicted Monday.
But he said it was “intolerable” for voters in the constituency to be unrepresented while he appealed, and said the resignation would allow him to “focus entirely on clearing my name”.
Boris Johnson now faces potentially challenging by-elections in Wakefield.
Image: Khan said he would appeal the court’s verdict
In a statement posted on Twitter, Khan said: “While the proceedings are ongoing, I do not believe it would normally be appropriate to resign.
“However, due to the great delay in the trial, my constituents have been without visible parliamentary representation for a year. Even at best, the expected lawsuits could continue for many months.
“That is why I regretfully came to the conclusion that it is inadmissible for voters to endure years without an MP who can increase his vote in parliament.
He said his constituents “deserve better than that” and therefore resigned as a Wakefield MP and “withdrew from political life”.
Labor held Wakefield from the 1930s until Hahn’s victory in the 2019 general election.
His resignation marks a tough battle for the Tories as the prime minister struggles to remain a leader after being fined for violating his own coronavirus blocking laws.
Joe Pike
Political correspondent
@joepike
Labor has known for months that the trial of Imran Ahmad Khan could lead to a key battle for by-elections, and behind the scenes they have been preparing for it.
With Khan’s resignation as an MP, the fight for the final red wall of Wakefield begins.
This will be a key test of Sir Keira Starmer’s leadership, offering the opportunity for Labor’s first victory in the Tories’ by-elections in a decade.
The constituency supported Brexit with 63%. This was one of the reasons why pro-European Labor MPs Mary Cree lost her seat in 2019 – for the first time in the hands of conservatives in the 1930s.
Ms. Creagh is not expected to return to the city, but it is understood that she wants to return to Westminster.
Sources in the Labor Party are optimistic about their chances of winning. Without the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn or Brexit and the cost of living crisis, they say Wakefield is profitable.
The Conservatives will hope their new campaign infrastructure and investment in the region will intensify their efforts.
However, they also face difficult questions about the warnings Khan’s victim claims he made before the 2019 elections, which seem to have been ignored.
Khan was chosen to run for the Tories in West Yorkshire after the original candidate withdrew due to racist and sexist posts on Facebook.
During the trial at Southwark Crown Court, the jury heard that Khan forced a 15-year-old boy to drink gin and tonic at a party before dragging the teen upstairs, pushing him to bed and asking him to watch pornography before the attack.
The victim, now 29, said Khan had touched his feet and legs and the MP had come “a hair’s breadth” from his private places while trying to sleep in an upper bed.
He ran to his parents and then a report was filed with the police, but no further action was taken as the young man did not want to file a formal complaint.
But he told the jury that “everything is back” when Khan rose as a conservative in the December 2019 general election.
He said he was not “taken very seriously” when he made the accusation in front of the Conservative Party’s press office days before Khan was elected Wakefield MP in the December 2019 general election.
He filed a complaint with the police days after Khan helped Johnson win a large majority in the Municipalities by capturing Wakefield.
Khan was found guilty by the jury after five hours of deliberation.
Jane Solicitors, the company representing Khan, said he “maintains his innocence” and “will appeal as soon as possible.”
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