Joyce avoids jail — but will he hang onto his seat?

‘You can’t touch me, I’m an MP!’ said Eric Joyce while being hauled off to the clanger after a drunken brawl in the Palace of Westminster. It seems he was right. Following an appearance in court today, Joyce has evaded jail with a £3,000 fine, community service order and three-month pub ban while retaining his job as MP for Falkirk. Calls for him to stand down now continue to mount, especially following the revelation of his relationship with a 17-year-old schoolgirl.

However, he has so far stuck to his plan of stepping down in 2015. Rumours are circulating in Westminster that he will be expelled from the Labour Party after the completion of disciplinary proceedings. But whether he can hold onto his seat until the next election remains to be seen. A Falkirk by-election would not come as much of a surprise.