Tory MP quits after taking cocaine plunging PM into fourth by-election nightmare

17 June 2023 , 20:41

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David Warburton announced he is quitting his MP job (Image: PA)

Tory MP David Warburton quit tonight, plunging Rishi Sunak into a fourth by-election nightmare.

The Somerset and Frome MP was under investigation by Parliament’s harassment watchdog following complaints from two women about inappropriate behaviour.

And an image emerged showing the MP for Somerset and Frome sitting next to an upturned baking tray with four lines of powder on it -alleged by the Sunday Times to be cocaine.

Mr Warburton admitted taking cocaine to the Mail on Sunday tonight, after drinking “incredibly potent” Japanese whisky. "I was set up, but I have been naive and incredibly stupid," he claimed. But he continues to deny the harassment claims.

Rishi Sunak is facing the nightmare of four Tory by-elections (Getty Images)

His resignation this will trigger a fourth Tory by-election, after Boris Johnson, Nadine Dorries and Nigel Adams all said they would quit over the last week.

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Mr Warburton claimed Parliament’s probe into his behaviour had been unfair.

He said: “My constituents who elected me have for a year been deprived of the voice they need. It is with sorrow that I have to provoke the upheaval of a by-election.

“I hope that, in so doing, I can freely illuminate the methods of an oversight system not fit for purpose.”

Mikey Smith