Ex-Labour MP Mike Amesbury has just announced he will quit as an MP after punching a constituent in the face. He was handed a 10-week prison sentence, suspended for two years. He told the BBC he will begin the “statutory process” of closing his office before resigning as an MP “as soon as possible“. Meaning there will be a by-election in his seat of Runcorn and Helsby…
Amesbury has a majority of 14,696, with Reform coming in second place in the General Election, with 18.1% of the vote. Reform is still the favourite on the betting markets to win…
In Henry Mance’s piece today for the FT, lunching with Nigel Farage:
“Splendido!” Farage says, when the drinks arrive; I suppose it’s a step to European reconciliation. We clink glasses, and he lights the first of two back-to-back Benson & Hedges. A few minutes later, we’re back downstairs. “Are you drinking? Good.” He orders a glass of Sauvignon blanc for each of us — not a bottle, “because it’s Lent” — followed by a bottle of claret, to have with our meal. They say Farage drinks less than he used to. They say a lot of things.”