Disgraced MP Mike Amesbury has said he'll step down after punching a constituent in a late-night brawl.
The former Labour MP was handed a 10-week prison sentence, which was suspended for two years on appeal, after admitting assault by beating. The court heard that Amesbury, 55, had been drinking before he arrived at a taxi rank in Frodsham, Cheshire, where constituent Paul Fellows, 45, approached him to complain about a local bridge closure.
Footage from the incident in October last year showed the Runcorn and Helsby MP punching Mr Fellows to the head, knocking him to the ground, then following him on to the road and starting to punch him again, at least five times. He was then heard saying "You won't threaten your MP again will you?"
Amesbury spent three nights in HMP Altcourse before his punishment was reduced to a suspended sentence on appeal. He has been ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, attend an anger management course and wear an alcohol reduction tag for 120 days.
Amesbury told the Mirror: "I will shortly step down from my role as a Member of Parliament, a job and a vocation I Iove; doing my bit to make a positive difference in people’s lives, especially for those most in need. "I have worked tirelessly for local people since 2017 and was humbled to be elected for the new Runcorn and Helsby constituency just eight months ago.
"But I made a serious mistake and am profoundly sorry to everyone I have let down, above all the victim, but also my constituents, my dedicated team and my loved ones." He said his decision to respond physically to feeling threatened was "a serious mistake I will regret for the rest of my life".
Amesbury said there was "no excuse for my ‘moments of madness’ on that awful night last October" but said he had been put on edge by a stalker and receiving a death threat. He is now receiving mental health support.
In an interview with the BBC, which first reported the news, he defended continuing to take his MP salary, saying "I actually picked up some casework in prison" as his office manager forwarded on "correspondence".
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The move will trigger the first by-election of this Parliament, teeing up a battle for Keir Starmer's party against Reform UK. Amesbury won the seat for Labour at the general election with a 14,696 majority but was suspended by the party after the incident. Nigel Farage's party came second with 7,662 votes, followed by the Tories on 6,756 votes.
A Labour spokesman said: "Local residents in the Runcorn and Helsby constituency deserved better and we look forward to them getting the representation they deserve in the future with a new Labour MP."
An MP cannot resign from the Commons, instead going through an archaic process where they are disqualified by being appointed as either the Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Manor of Northstead.