Disgraced MP Chris Pincher has said that he has “made arrangements to resign” after he lost an appeal against an eight-week suspension from the Commons following groping allegations.
Pincher had the Conservative party whip removed after he was accused of groping two men in a central London club. He was a government whip at the time of the alleged incidents.
On 3 July 2022, six new allegations against Pincher emerged, involving behaviour spanning over a decade. Three complaints are that Pincher made unwanted advances against other male MPs, one in a bar at the House of Commons and one in Pincher's parliamentary office. One complainant reportedly gave Downing Street details in February and expressed concerns over Pincher becoming a whip in charge of other MPs' welfare. Pincher maintained he had no intention of resigning as an MP.
In the following days, it emerged that Johnson had been briefed about Pincher's alleged misconduct in 2017. The government initially denied that, at the time of Pincher's appointment, Johnson had any knowledge of specific complaints about Pincher of a similar nature. Johnson later said that that was not the case, raising questions about the earlier denials and why Johnson nevertheless had chosen to appoint him as Deputy Chief Whip.
In a statement reported by the BBC, Pincher, the MP for Tamworth, who lost the Tory whip when the allegations first emerged in summer 2022, said: “I do not want my constituents to be put to further uncertainty, and so in consequence I have made arrangements to resign and leave the Commons.”
The standards committee recommended in July that Pincher be suspended for eight weeks, having found that his behaviour "represented an abuse of power as he was in a position of authority” and had a "significant impact" on the individuals involved.
Pincher appealed against the suspension. On 4 September 2023 it was announced that an Independent Expert Panel (IEP) had not upheld the appeal. The IEP concluded that the original House of Commons committee which investigated the sexual misconduct allegations had "approached this task properly, with the correct considerations in mind". Pincher announced his intention to resign as an MP on 7 September 2023 after being unsuccessful in appealing his suspension. The resignation took effect when he was appointed to the Office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead on the same day.