Senior Neath MP suspended from Labour party following allegations of bullying

A Labour MP in Wales has had the party whip suspended following reported allegations of bullying.

It is understood Christina Rees, who is the MP for Neath and was shadow Welsh Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn, will have her party membership suspended while the complaint is investigated.

Allegations of bullying by staff in the Neath MP's constituency were reported in The Guardian.

In a statement, Ms Rees said "There has been a complaint made against me to the Labour party, which is under investigation and I am therefore under an administrative suspension until the process is concluded.

"I’m not aware of the details of the complaint but I am fully cooperating with the investigation.”

A Labour Party spokeswoman said: “We do not comment on individual complaints.”

Christina Rees is a qualified barrister who also had a sporting career, representing Wales at international level in a variety of sports, most successfully as a squash player. 

She became an MP in 2015, taking over from Lord Hain. Most recently she's been active as a backbencher, campaigning for changes to dangerous dogs legislation. 

Ms Rees will sit as an independent member in the House of Commons while the investigation is underway, the third Welsh MP to do so and the 14th overall. 

Her former boss Jeremy Corbyn is among those independent MPs, having been suspended by Keir Starmer for comments he made in the wake of a report by the equalities watchdog about antisemitism in the Labour party.

Earlier this week, the Conservative MP Conor Burns had his party whip withdrawn following allegations of inappropriate behaviour.