Ross admits affair but won’t resign

Rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross will not quit Parliament and has admitted to an affair with a fellow married MP.

Ross had earlier said he would resign yesterday and then contest a by-election in his Auckland seat of Botany as an independent.

But in an interview with Newstalk ZB and later on Twitter yesterday evening he pledged to stay on in Parliament to continue his war against National Party leader Simon Bridges, saying the party had ‘‘changed the rules’’ by lifting the bedsheets on him so much that he wouldn’t be able to fight a by-election in Botany.

‘‘I have not submitted a resignation letter to the Speaker.

‘‘I intended to do that today.

‘‘I will instead stay on as an MP to continue speaking out about the internal operations of the National Party,’’ Ross tweeted.

In the Newstalk ZB interview Ross suggested the National Party might be responsible for a news media website Newsroom story released on Thursday about four women who said they had either been bullied by him or had consensual but threatening sexual relationships with him. Ross accepted that he had affairs with the women but disputed aspects of the story. Ross said that as the party had changed the rules, he was too.

Parliamentary privilege would mean anything Ross says in the House will not be covered by defamation laws.

Since the National Party caucus has expelled him, Ross will automatically be recognised as an independent MP by the Speaker. If he did officially tell Speaker Trevor Mallard he was an independent, the new ‘‘waka jumping’’ law would mean he would have to leave Parliament.

That would need to happen if Ross was to seek new parliamentary funding as the leader of his own party.

National has notified the Speaker under Standing Orders that Ross is no longer a member of the party and it could still use the ‘‘waka jumping’’ law to kick him out of Parliament. That would involve writing a specific letter to the Speaker.

National shadow leader of the house Gerry Brownlee said the party would assess its options.

‘‘We’re just quite frankly a bit over spending any time on this guy’s concerns.’’ Brownlee said it wasn’t surprising that Ross had opted not to resign, as he would have ‘‘taken soundings in his electorate and knew that his prospects of being an independent member were minimal’’.

Mallard said the news would mean there was no change from the current position, where Ross is recognised as an independent MP.

Legal expert Graeme Edgeler said that for the National Party to use the waka jumping law, it would have to prove that Ross was in some way subverting the proportionality of Parliament.

ROSS ADMITS AFFAIRS

Also on Newstalk ZB, Ross admitted to an affair with a married MP and a separate one with a former staffer.

He apologised to his wife and any other women he had hurt.

‘‘I owe my wife a huge apology. I have done some things that I am not proud of.

‘‘I have apologised to her in person and I am going to continue to apologise to her,’’ Ross told Newstalk ZB.

‘‘The bottom line is I haven’t been a good husband.’’

Ross still disputed parts of the allegations, reported on by Newsroom, and named the married MP he had an affair with. But Newstalk ZB chose not to name the woman.