A CONSERVATIVE MP has been placed under investigation by Parliament’s standards watchdog.
Miriam Cates, the MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, is facing claims that she has caused “significant damage to the reputation of the House as a whole, or of its members generally”, according to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
It is not known what the investigation relates to. The watchdog only reports it is connected to paragraph 17 of the MPs' code of conduct, which says they "shall never undertake any action which would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole, or of its members generally".
The details of investigations by the Standards Commissioner, Daniel Greenberg, are kept confidential until the inquiry is concluded and those under investigation are barred from discussing the allegations.
Cates was elected as MP in 2019 and has become a leading figure of the right-wing New Conservatives group alongside fellow backbencher Danny Kruger.
She has also been outspoken in her concern about declining fertility rates in Britain, calling for policies to promote marriage and having children.
She is one of eight MPs currently being investigated by the Standards Commissioner, including Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing, veteran conservative Bernard Jenkin, and Reclaim MP Andrew Bridgen.
Scottish Tory MP David Duguid is also being investigated by the standards watchdog.
A former Scotland office minister, Duguid is being probed amid concerns related to the declaration of an interest.
