Ex-Labour MP to stand down over assault conviction | Global News Avenue

Former Labor MP Mike Amesbury said he will withdraw from parliament after being sentenced to jail for repeated assaults.

Runcorn and Helsby MP told the BBC that he would start ending the office’s “statutory process” before he could “quit his MP as soon as possible”.

His resignation will trigger Sir Keel Starmer’s first deputy election for the Labour government.

Amesbury was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison and was suspended for two years after pleading guilty to assaulting Paul Fellows.

In his first interview since his sentence, Amesbury said he “repentantly” attacked “every day, every moment.”

But Amesbury told the BBC that he would try to become a MP if he was sentenced to a easier community sentence – he was talking about the job of “making a phone call”.

“I would have continued to serve the voters, and I was elected only seven or eight months ago,” he said.

“That’s my intention, if I can continue.”

Under parliamentary rules, a “recall petition” is triggered if a member of Congress accepts a detention judgment.

If at least 10% of his voters voted to remove Amesbury, that would be called a by-election – with the possibility of removing him as a member of Congress.

Asked about his future, Amesbury told the BBC: “I will leave as early as possible.

“I already have the process I have to go through – the legal process about layoffs,” he said.

Amesbury described the consequences of the court case as “difficulty” but said he “has” his mistake.

Amesbury defended his continued defense as a member of MP – although not in the House of Commons debate as he had first slammed Mr Fellows in October 2024.

He told the BBC that he had conducted cases for his constituents even in prison.

When his office manager forwarded the “newsletter,” Amesbury said: “I actually took some cases in jail.”

“Life has not stopped being a member of Congress,” he added.

On February 24, Amesbury stayed in prison for three nights after being sentenced to 10 weeks in Chester Caprates’s Court.

Chester Crown Court later suspended his verdict, allowing him to spend time in the community rather than in prison.

As part of his sentence, Amsbury must do 200 hours of unpaid work, conduct an alcohol monitoring program, conduct anger management courses and conduct 20 days of rehabilitation.

The campaigners called for the deprivation of Amesbury’s wages during trial and imprisonment.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which regulates the salary of members of Congress, said the rules mean that members must pay their wages until they are suspended due to the House of Commons disciplinary proceedings.

When asked how he responded to people who might think he was treated lightly when sentenced, Amesbury said he was “punished accordingly.”

“As far as the law goes, I plead guilty to the earliest opportunity,” Amesbury said.

He told the BBC that he would “lose his family home” and his livelihood and walked away with a criminal record.

“If people think it’s easy, then that’s it.”

Video of the attack played in court showed Amesbury slamming Mr. Guy’s head and knocking him to the ground.

Then, the politicians hit him at least five times and swear to him.

Then I heard Amesbury say, “You are not threatening your MP again, are you?”

Amesbury told police he was approached by a man “yelling” and said that because he was scared, another man’s “weapons were swaying” and he felt he had no choice but to “defend” himself.

Although the judge called his remarks “a packet of lies,” Amesbury insisted that he “feeled threatened.”

In the days before the incident, Amesbury said he had been dealing with death threats and stalker effects, which raised his “level of anxiety.”

Emsbury said threats and abuse “put you on the edge”, noting that two members of Congress – Jo Cox and Sir David Amess, have been murdered in the past decade.

“So when someone approaches me at 10 in the morning, it’s natural to be on the edge and anxious – I’m wrong,” he said.

He said he should go away, adding: “I just saw the red – this moment of crazy moment I will regret it for the rest of my life.”

He added that he wanted to apologize to Mr. Guy in person, but he backed off as the legal proceedings unfolded.

The BBC also sought comments from Mr Fellows.