Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely has come in for criticism after he chose to abstain on a vote, which effectively blocked the suspension of Conservative peer, Owen Paterson.
In the last hour, Owen Paterson has decided to resign as the MP for North Shropshire.
He said:
"I will remain a public servant but outside the cruel world of politics."
Yesterday (Wednesday) Parliament yesterday voted to change rules on the way MPs' conduct is policed.
By doing so it's argued it prevented Mr Paterson, a former minister, from being suspended.
Mr Paterson was found to have used his position as an MP to benefit two companies he was working for.
Mr Seely said he was going to vote in favour of changing the rules, but said he changed his mind and abstained.
I did not support the Gov't today; but abstained.
— Bob Seely MP (@IoWBobSeely) November 3, 2021
I was going to vote with, but after listening to the Father of the House @PBottomleyMP & @RhonddaBryant, I changed my mind.
We need to respect the current system until we have put in place a better one.https://t.co/sPVtevQGYb
Former Labour parliamentary candidate for the Island, Cllr Richard Quigley, criticised his decision. He told Isle of Wight Radio:
“Our MP Bob Seely has had a dreadful two weeks and he has blown the opportunity he had to redeem himself. By abstaining on this crucial vote on standards he has shown he doesn’t support democracy and isn’t brave enough to stand up to corruption. Why didn’t he abstain on the vote to pump sewage into our seas or the reduction in local government funding?.
"Yet again his actions aren’t consistent with his espoused beliefs. It’s not good enough to have an MP that merely wants to represent Westminster on the Island, we need one that will represent Islanders in Westminster."
MPs were expected to vote again on Mr Paterson's recommended 30-day suspension, before he resigned as an MP.
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