The MP Julian Knight has said he will not seek to have the Conservative whip restored or stand at the next general election for any other party after he was subject to a “malicious” sexual assault accusation.
Scotland Yard received an allegation of serious sexual assault on 28 October last year, and on 7 December a further referral relating to the alleged incident was made, prompting an investigation into Knight. No details of the allegation were released at the time.
The MP for Solihull had always strongly rejected any wrongdoing after the complaint was made about him to the Metropolitan police, saying he had been targeted by unfounded rumours and blackmail.
Knight has claimed the investigation, which was dropped by the Met, had damaged his “physical and mental wellbeing as well as causing pain and distress to my loved ones”.
Last month, the Conservative party refused to restore the whip to Knight after “further complaints” made against him. Knight says he is not under formal investigation by any parliamentary authority, and claims he had tried to seek details on what “further complaints” had been made to the party but no details were shared with him.
Announcing his plans to step down at the next election, Knight once again criticised the Conservative party for “tarnishing” his name with “unspecified further complaints” that left him and his family in limbo.
He said on Twitter: “I will not be standing for the Conservatives or any other party at the next general election. The past year has been for my wife and I the worst of our lives.
“When the police finally exonerated me, without ever needing to interview me, I believed the nightmare was over. It seemed that justice, although delayed, had prevailed.
“However, the whips office immediately made a statement about unspecified further complaints which tarnished my name and left my family and me in limbo. Over the past month I have tried to discover the nature of these allegations so that I could deny them, since I know I am guilty of no wrongdoing. However, no details nor timeline has been forthcoming from the Whips Office. I stress I am not under any sort of formal investigation by any parliamentary authority.”
“Nevertheless, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that no job or political career is worth this,” Knight said in a statement on Twitter. “I will not be requesting the return of the Conservative whip. I do this in sorrow and not in anger.”
Knight chaired the Commons digital, culture, media and sport select committee for two years and has been an MP since 2015.
He added: “I will now sit until the general election in parliament as an independent – continuing to work for Solihull and my constituents. The chairmanship of the DCMS select committee is a party position that I have no choice but to relinquish, given my decision to remain an independent.”
The MP said he will in due course decide whether to take legal action against the Conservative party’s “false and malicious” accusation.
In February, Knight complained to the Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, about the handling of the allegation, writing to the police chief to call the investigation “flawed and fundamentally unjust”.
