Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged disgraced Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan to keep his promise to step down from his seat in Wakefield, after it emerged that he has still not formally resigned his seat.
Khan pledged two weeks ago to quit as the Tory MP for the West Yorkshire constituency, shortly after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Sir Keir said the people of Wakefield “deserve better”, as he expressed his frustration that a date could not yet be set for a by-election.
“The disgraced Tory MP in Wakefield said he would resign and he still hasn’t actually resigned,” he said while out campaigning in Stevenage for next week’s local elections.
The Labour leader added: “Wakefield deserves better than that. He should get on with it, so we can have a by-election.”
Asked if he was disappointed that former Labour chancellor Ed Balls has ruled out putting himself forward as the party’s candidate in Wakefield, Sir Keir said: “That’s a matter for Ed Balls”, adding: “We’ll have an excellent candidate for Labour.”
Local Tories in Wakefield have reportedly urged Khan to formally quit as MP, as concern builds over the fact that he has not yet fulfilled a pledge made two weeks ago.
Khan said on 14 April he was appealing against his sexual assault conviction. But had added that “regrettably come to the conclusion that it is intolerable for constituents to go years without an MP”.
Tory MP Stephen Hammond has suggested that the looming Wakefield contest, which could now be pushed back to June, could be the final straw for Mr Johnson if it comes on the back of poor local election results.
On the key test in red-wall territory, the former minister said: “If we don’t [win], there might be some thought about what we need to do to reassure those voters that came to us for the first time in 2019.”
Meanwhile, Sir Keir also said he wanted to see “an emergency budget, not a cabinet meeting” to address the cost-of-living crisis.
Ridiculing Boris Johnson’s ideas meeting with ministers on Tuesday morning, The Labour leader said: “The cost of living crisis has been staring us in the face for six months now.”
Sir Keir played down reports that shadow cabinet minister Lisa Nandy had urged him to stop talking about Partygate so much and focus instead make the cost-of-living crisis the centre of local election.
“When we started the campaign we had a laser-like focus on the cost of living and we’ve maintained that throughout the campaign,” he said.
Mr Starmer also hit out at the “disgusting” treatment of Angela Rayner, adding: “I think all of us have got a responsibility not just to call this out but to renew our determination to change the culture in parliament.”
