Tory David Warburton, accused of sexual harassment, to quit as MP triggering another by-election

Rishi Sunak faces a new potentially damaging by-election after a former Tory MP resigned with immediate effect following allegations of sexual harassment and cocaine use.

David Warburton has stood down from his seat of Somerton and Frome, hitting out in an exit statement of an “extraordinarily difficult” 14 months fighting “malicious allegations in two connected investigations”.

He said he had been prevented by the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) from “speaking out” while it probed the accusations and suggested that in resigning he would be “laying bare” what he regards as flaws in the system.

“It is my hope that, in so doing, I can freely illuminate the methods of an oversight system not fit for purpose, so that friends and colleagues in the House can see the perverted process by which their own judgement may at any time be freighted,” Mr Warburton said.

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The resignation, first reported by the Mail on Sunday, will trigger a by-election in his constituency.

Mr Warburton took the seat from the Liberal Democrats in 2015 and had a 19,213 majority but the opposition party is already stepping up manoeuvres to reclaim it.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Time after time the Conservatives have mired themselves in sleaze and scandal neglecting the issues that really matter to people. Then they decided it was okay to leave local people in this seat without any proper representation at all.

“This by-election will be a clear contest between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, Labour finished third last time and are completely out of the race.

“The people of Somerton and Frome need a local champion and they can have that at the next election by choosing our local Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Dyke.”

Additional reporting by Press Association