Conservative MP Mark Menzies announced on Sunday that he would resign following allegations of misuse of campaign funds and sensational claims that he begged aides for cash to pay ransoms to “bad people”.
Mr Menzies, who has represented Mr Fried in Lancaster in the House of Commons since 2010, said in a statement on Sunday: “Due to pressures on myself and my elderly mother, I have decided to leave the Conservative Party and will not stand for Parliament. I won’t.” The upcoming general election. ”
“This has been a very difficult week for me. I ask that my family’s privacy be respected,” he added. according to to telegraph paper.
The move comes after he was suspended from the whip in parliament after it was alleged he used £14,000 in political donations to cover personal medical costs.
Mr Menzies also called the former campaign chief in the middle of the night in December last year, begging for money to pay off the “bad people” he had allegedly locked up in his flat, claiming he needed £5,000, and then later It is also alleged that the amount was increased to £6,500. As a matter of “life and death”.
Previously, a member of Congress had this to say about this claim: I fully complied with all rules regarding declaration. ”
The Conservative MP previously faced a scandal in 2014 when it was alleged that he was paid for sex by a 19-year-old Brazilian male prostitute and tried to buy illegal drugs. The scandal forced Mr Menzies to resign as then Prime Minister David Cameron’s ministerial assistant, but he insisted many of the allegations were false and would be rectified in “due course”.
The Conservative Party said on Saturday that its latest investigation into Menzies “cannot conclude that there has been any misuse of Conservative Party funds”.
Despite this, the party said there had been a “pattern of behavior that fell below the standards expected of MPs and individuals who control contributions to local campaign funds outside of the Conservative Party’s direct control”.
The party also said it would investigate whether Mr Fryde’s actions “may be in breach of the Nolan Principles of Public Life”.
“Of course, we will share any information with the police if we believe it will help the investigation.” This is clearly false as we have sought to protect the public,” a Conservative Party spokesperson said.
On Friday, Lancashire Police announced they had launched an investigation into the matter following a complaint from Labor.
