Conservative MP Miriam Cates has been placed under investigation by Parliament’s standards watchdog.

The backbench MP is facing claims that she has caused “significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its members generally”, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.

It is not known what the investigation relates to. The investigation was opened on December 14.

The details of investigations by the Standards Commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, are kept confidential until the inquiry is concluded and those under investigation are barred from discussing the allegations.

Ms Cates was elected as MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge in 2019 and has become a leading figure of the right-wing New Conservatives group.

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