Parish quits in formal resignation

NEIL Parish has formally resigned as an MP after admitting watching pornography in the Commons.

The Treasury released a statement to say it had accepted the Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton’s resignation.

It said: “The Chancellor of the Exchequer has this day appointed Neil Quentin Gordon Parish to be Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.”

Appointing an MP to the position is one of the formal mechanisms used to allow them to resign their office.

Reports emerged last week that two female Tory MPs had seen a male colleague watching adult material on the Commons benches. Mr Parish then came forward admitting he had twice watched pornography in the chamber, and announced on Saturday that he would quit as MP for the Devon constituency.

The former MP, who chaired the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Select Committee, told the BBC that the first time he watched pornography in the Commons was an accident, claiming he had been looking for photographs of tractors. But he admitted the second occasion was intentional.

In an interview with BBC South West, he said: “The situation was, funnily enough it was tractors I was looking at, so I did get into another website with sort of a very similar name and I watched it for a bit, which I shouldn’t have done.”

Ministers have rejected calls for an all-women Conservative shortlist for any future Tiverton and Honiton by-election.

Some Conservatives – including Caroline Nokes, chairwoman of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee – want the party to ensure its candidate for the seat is a woman. But universities minister Michelle Donelan said it would be ‘demeaning.’