MICHELLE Mone is no longer a member of the Conservative Party, reports say.
Mone, who was made a Conservative peer by David Cameron in 2015, has been on a leave of absence from the Lords and without the Tory whip since December 2022.
However, the Daily Record now reports that she is no longer a member of the party at all.
The party confirmed to the newspaper that Mone has left, but did not state when or how.
Mone has admitted she lied when she repeatedly denied having links to PPE Medpro, which made millions of pounds in profits from a Government deal to supply personal protective equipment during the pandemic.
This latest news comes as calls to kick Mone out of the Lords altogether mount following a TV interview with Laura Kuenssberg.
While First Minister Humza Yousaf suggested the saga shows the need to abolish the House of Lords altogether, Labour chief Keir Starmer did not go so far.
Mone should not be sitting in the Lords, Starmer said as he called on the UK Government to answer “serious questions” about the “shocking disgrace” of a situation.
Meanwhile the Prime Minister pointed to the Government’s legal case against PPE Medpro, but refused to comment further.
Asked about Mone’s dishonesty during a Scotland trip on Monday, Rishi Sunak told reporters: “The Government takes these things incredibly seriously, which is why we’re pursuing legal action against the company concerned in these matters.
“That’s how seriously I take it and the Government takes it. But it is also subject to an ongoing criminal investigation. And because of that, there’s not much further that I can add.”
The Government last December issued breach of contract proceedings against PPE Medpro over the 2020 deal on the supply of sterile gowns. The firm is defending the legal action.
The company is also being investigated by the National Crime Agency into suspected criminal offences in the procurement of PPE contracts.
Mone’s first major broadcast interview since the scandal emerged saw her admit she did not tell the truth about her connection to the company, while insisting that lying to the media was “not a crime”.
A Tory minister echoed calls for her not to return to the upper chamber.
“I think she should have declared her involvement in that in the House of Lords register, and there is guidance available for that,” energy efficiency minister Martin Callanan told Sky News.
“I would hope that she would not be coming back to the House of Lords.”
