David Warburton plots his comeback

It’s been a bad week for the Tories. They’ve lost nearly 500 councillors, are facing two key parliamentary by-elections and are now near-extinct in much of the capital. There are some who fear that following the various scandals involving Owen Paterson (lobbying), Imran Ahmad Khan (sex offences) and Neil Parish (porn in Parliament), the Conservative party risks becoming irrevocably associated with sleaze.

And such fears are unlikely to be calmed then by the return of a familiar figure to Westminster. For David Warburton has signalled he could come back to the Commons next week at the end of the parliamentary recess, following a stint in hospital. The Somerton and Frome MP last month lost the Tory whip shortly after allegations of sexual harassment and drug use were published by the Sunday Times. 

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For yesterday – as the rest of the media were focusing on the local elections, including the loss of Warburton’s own Somerset council – the backbencher quietly published a statement on his website, announcing his imminent return. He claims to have been ‘in continual contact with my parliamentary and constituency offices’ since the scandal broke and expressed his disappointment ‘that I have been unable to respond myself through a formal investigation.’

Referring to the Sunday Times allegations, Warburton says that ‘since the stories appeared a month ago, I have still not been contacted by any authority and am currently unaware as to whether any investigation has, in fact, been established.’ He says that ‘I look forward to be able to return fully to Parliament when it reconvenes’ and thanks the ‘great number of MPs from both sides of the House for their support.’

With MPs back in London on Tuesday for the Queen’s Speech, Steerpike wonders what Warburton’s former staff will make of this. Two women were reported last month to have approached the Commons independent complaints and grievance scheme to accuse him of ‘unwanted sexual comments and sexual touching’. One of them now works in a female MP’s parliamentary office where presumably she will see Warburton again on the parliamentary estate.

The bullish statement by the Somerton MP suggests he will not be following in the footsteps of fellow Somerset MP Parish and triggering another by-election headache for the Tories too.