Julian Knight: senior Tory MP suspended by Conservatives after serious sexual assault complaint made to police

Conservative MP Julian Knight has had the whip removed after a serious sexual assault complaint was made to the Metropolitan Police.

Chief Whip Simon Hart said the complaint was made to the force on Wednesday evening (7 December) and he removed the whip “with immediate effect”. It means that the senior MP for Solihull in the West Midlands has been suspended from the party and will no longer sit in the Common as a Tory.

Knight, who has been an MP since 2015 and is also the chair of the Commons’ Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, will now sit as an independent MP. He said he will be recusing himself from Parliament until the matter is resolved.

In a series of tweets on Thursday (8 December), Knight said: “I have heard nothing from the police, the Whips Office or Parliament’s Internal Grievance Service, or been the subject of any investigation by the latter. Nor have I ever been warned or spoken to by the Whips Office about any allegations of misconduct. I believe their withdrawal of the whip is wrong and unjustified.” He claimed he had been threatened with “blackmail as well as being at the centre of a campaign of rumour and innuendo”.

Today, Scotland Yard said: “On 28 October, police received allegations of serious sexual assault against un-named victims reported to have taken place on unknown dates at undisclosed locations. On 7 December a further referral relating to the incident(s) was made and an investigation was launched.”

A spokeswoman for Chief Whip Simon Hart, who took the action, declined to comment on the nature of the complaint. She said: “Following a complaint made to the Metropolitan Police this evening, we have removed the whip from Julian Knight MP with immediate effect.”

The suspension is the latest in a string of MPs to lose the party whip after they became the subject of an allegation. Labour suspended Conor McGinn’s membership on Wednesday while a complaint made to his party was being investigated.

The MP for St Helens North, in Merseyside, said he has not been told of the details of the allegation but was “confident that it is entirely unfounded”. The move triggered the automatic removal of the Labour whip, meaning he will sit as an independent in the House of Commons.

Until recently, McGinn was a shadow minister without portfolio, playing a key role in preparing Labour for the next general election as deputy national campaigns co-ordinator.

In a statement reported by The Guardian, the Labour MP said: “The Labour Party has informed me that it is automatically required to apply a temporary procedural suspension while a complaint is investigated.

“I have not been told the details of the complaint but I am confident that it is entirely unfounded. I strongly reject any suggestion of wrongdoing and I look forward to the matter being resolved quickly.”