Sex offender Wakefield MP Imran Khan set to receive April pay despite conviction

• ITV Calendar's political correspondent Harry Horton explains why Wakefield MP Imran Khan is still being paid despite a conviction for child sex assault

Disgraced Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan has finally submitted a letter of resignation after being convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy. But he is still being paid.

Khan, 48, has not spent a single day in April representing the city's constituents, having been in court for the first 11 days of the month defending himself before he was found guilty, on the 11th, of groping the 15-year-old in 2008.

After his conviction he eventually announced that he would resign as an MP, and he has now done so formally.

But his resignation letter was future-dated to the end of the month.

It means, with Khan saying he intends to appeal his conviction, that he’s entitled to claim the April portion of his £82,000-a-year salary – including three weeks' pay since his conviction.

Khan's 2019 election agent and deputy leader of Wakefield Conservatives, Tony Homewood, told ITV News: "It's typical of his contempt, not just for the people of Wakefield but for proper process. The man's an absolute disgrace".

Archaic Parliamentary rules mean MPs can not technically resign. They must instead apply to be made a non-salaried "crown steward" until their replacement is elected.

ITV News understands the Treasury has received Khan's letter, but the resignation hasn’t yet been processed.

Once it has been – which we understand is likely to be after the bank holiday weekend – the Conservative Party can set a date for the by-election.

Khan will be sentenced in May.