MOS EXCLUSIVE: Conservative MP David Warburton who was caught in sex and cocaine ‘sting’ reveals he is quitting – handing Rishi Sunak a fresh by-election headache
- Warburton, 57, says he is resigning his seat because he was denied a fair hearing
- He admitted taking cocaine after drinking ‘incredibly potent’ Japanese whisky
Rishi Sunak is facing a new by-election headache after a Tory MP embroiled in a sex and drugs scandal told The Mail on Sunday that he is quitting.
David Warburton, 57, says he is resigning his seat because he was denied a fair hearing by a parliamentary harassment watchdog investigating allegations that he made unwanted advances to two women.
But in an exclusive interview with this newspaper, he admitted taking cocaine after drinking ‘incredibly potent’ Japanese whisky with a third woman – who secretly photographed and recorded him after he visited her flat following a late-night vote in the House of Commons.
‘I was set up, but I have been naive and incredibly stupid,’ said Mr Warburton. He vehemently denies the harassment claims.
His departure, which follows that of Boris Johnson and two of his allies just over a week ago, will trigger a by-election in the Somerset constituency of Somerton and Frome which Mr Warburton first held in 2015, securing the country’s biggest swing to the Tories. He won again in 2019 with a majority of more than 19,000.
David Warburton admitted taking cocaine after drinking ‘incredibly potent’ Japanese whisky with a third woman – who secretly photographed and recorded him after he visited her flat following a late-night vote in the House of Commons
‘I was set up, but I have been naive and incredibly stupid,’ said Mr Warburton. He vehemently denies the harassment claims
The Prime Minister must now fight four potentially damaging by-elections in the run-up to the party conference.
Today, Mr Warburton accuses the parliamentary authorities of being ‘terrified’ of the MeToo movement, saying he ‘didn’t stand a chance’ from the outset. In his resignation letter, he said the ‘malicious allegations’ and a ‘flawed’ 14-month investigation ‘has inflicted unimaginable and intolerable destruction on my family and on me’.
He added: ‘I have been prevented from revealing that the first investigation against me was dismissed, that the claimant falsified evidence or that the second claimant was witness to the first and vice-versa.
‘I have been prevented from saying that in the remaining case, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards [Daniel Greenberg] himself declared its year-long investigation as ‘flawed’ – that it ought to be reinvestigated – but that due to its own lethargic pace and delays, we must accept it as it is.’
Mr Greenberg accepted the claims of a political aide who alleged the MP coerced her into returning to his Westminster flat, where, she says, he kissed her forehead, stroked her hair and rubbed her thigh. She says he touched her bottom and thigh on separate occasions. Mr Warburton, who has appealed the inquiry’s findings, denies her claims and says that in the days after the alleged harassment she sent him dozens of friendly texts and offered to run errands when he was confined to bed with two broken ribs.
His wife, Harriet (pictured with him in 2013), said: ‘They shut down every way David had of defending himself. I feel the party completely hung us out to dry’
Today, Mr Warburton accuses the parliamentary authorities of being ‘terrified’ of the MeToo movement, saying he ‘didn’t stand a chance’ from the outset
The claims of a second woman – who says the MP caressed her and physically stopped her from leaving his flat – were rejected by the parliamentary authorities. ‘She filmed herself pretending she was in my bathroom,’ he said. ‘But I was able to prove it was a fake.’
A third woman who photographed Mr Warburton alongside lines of cocaine which she laid before him never made a formal complaint. Her claims – denied by the MP – appeared in a newspaper, however. None of the women went to police.
‘While they have published their claims across the media, I have been prevented… from speaking out,’ said Mr Warburton in his letter.
After the scandal broke, he contemplated suicide. Thoughts of his family pulled him from the brink.
He claims that Mr Greenberg ‘decided against considering my witnesses because they work for me, most of them, and might be trying to protect their jobs.
‘He said my character and behaviour as described by the women was enough to prove I did it. He thought I should face a heavier sanction because I didn’t show remorse. I didn’t show remorse because I didn’t do it.’
Mr Warburton added: ‘My constituents who elected me have for a year been deprived of the voice they need. It is with sorrow that I have to provoke the upheaval of a by-election. I hope that, in so doing, I can freely illuminate the methods of an oversight system not fit for purpose.’
His wife, Harriet, said: ‘They shut down every way David had of defending himself. I feel the party completely hung us out to dry.’
A Tory Party spokesman said: ‘The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme is an independent body set up by Parliament and the Conservative Party respects its processes. Mr Warburton had the whip withdrawn over these complaints last April and has not sat in Parliament as a Conservative since.’
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