Police have dropped a rape and sexual assault investigation into the Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell after a lengthy investigation.
Scotland Yard said it had carried out a “thorough investigation” into Rosindell, the MP for Romford, but concluded the evidence did not meet the threshold for a criminal prosecution.
A spokesperson for Rosindell said he had been “completely exonerated”.
Rosindell has not voted or spoken in the House of Commons since April 2022. He was asked to stay away from parliament while the police investigation was conducted.
He was arrested in May 2022 on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office.
The Metropolitan police arrested Rosindell more than two years after receiving a report in January 2020 relating to alleged offences that were said to have taken place in London between 2002 and 2009.
Rosindell has always denied wrongdoing and was never charged.
Although he did not attend parliament for nearly two years, he continued to do parliamentary work, including foreign trips.
He is now due to stand for re-election as the Conservative MP for Romford in east London after he was unanimously reselected as the candidate by his local association last year.
A Met spokesperson said: “A thorough investigation has been carried out by detectives. They concluded that the evidence did not meet the threshold set by crown prosecutors. The man has been informed he will face no further action.”
A spokesperson for Rosindell said: “The Metropolitan police have conducted a thorough investigation and concluded that there was no case to answer and that no further action would be taken.
“Andrew has been completely exonerated. He has been working constantly for Romford throughout the past 21 months and will continue to speak up for the people of his beloved home town as their local MP.”
