Labour's Christian Matheson quits as MP for Chester after sexual misconduct allegations

Rob Smith reports on Labour MP Christian Matheson's resignation

Labour MP Christian Matheson has resigned after a parliamentary watchdog recommended he be suspended for "serious sexual misconduct", which he denies.

The former City of Chester MP was facing a four-week suspension and had been asked to stand down by his party after being accused of two counts of sexual misconduct against a former staff member.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards report, concluded that Mr Matheson extended a "sexually motivated, unwanted" invitation to the woman for a private trip abroad and "placed [her] under pressure and intimidated her”.

The watchdog report also said he "made personal comments about her appearance...made her hold his hand as they left...invited her back to his flat, kissed her twice on the forehead and attempted to kiss her on the mouth."

"The Commissioner concluded that these were all unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances."

The panel said it took into account the fact that Mr Matheson accepted that he had breached the sexual misconduct policy, but he failed to acknowledge the full extent of his misconduct.But determined that Christian Matheson should be suspended from the House for four weeks.

Mr Matheson is said to have appealed the decision to potentially suspend him.

However, the new sub-panel appointed to consider his appeal dismissed it, concluding that "he had not raised any substantive grounds of appeal".

In a statement released on Friday, Mr Matheson resigned as MP for the City of Chester but denied the allegations.

He said: “From the start I accepted I had committed a minor breach of the code and had hoped that an honest and open approach would stand me in a fair light.

"This has proven not to be the case and I am dismayed that I have been found guilty of several allegations that I know to be untrue.

“Indeed my insistence on what I know to be true – that I had no sexual motivation in this matter – was held against me as a refusal to accept my guilt, and caused an increased sanction which I felt was disproportionate.

“Despite provable factual inaccuracies in the sanctions report, my appeal against sanction was not even considered, for the same reason.

“Therefore, I faced a suspension from the House of four weeks. Whilst I believe that this is an excessive and unfair penalty, I cannot challenge the process further."

Mr Matheson went on to say that the allegations have "taken a toll" on his health, and it has led to him being hospitalised.

The former MP asked for privacy and thanked his constituents and the Labour party for "allowing him to serve".

He said: “I will forever be grateful to my constituency, and my party, for giving me the honour to serve, and I apologise to the people of Chester, and to the House of Commons, for the disrepute I have brought.

"I once again apologise to the complainant in my case, for the hurt I have caused.”

It is understood that the Labour Party launched an investigation and immediately suspended Mr Matheson from Labour Party membership in light of the report.

The Chief Whip told him he had lost the whip and urged him to stand down as an MP.

A Labour spokesperson said: “This is an incredibly serious case.

" There must be a zero tolerance for sexual harassment and the Labour party has acted immediately following the ICGS (Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme) findings.

“We will now select a candidate that the people of Chester can be proud to vote for.”