Expenses row: Labour MP David Chaytor to stand down

Published on Tuesday 2 June 2009 11:05

LABOUR backbencher David Chaytor announced today that he would not fight the next General Election in the wake of revelations that he claimed expenses on a mortgage which did not exist.

Mr Chaytor has already been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party pending a "star chamber" inquiry into his claims.

Today he said he would not seek re-election for Bury North after discussions with colleagues, local party figures and senior Labour officials at the weekend.

He said that, for the coming months, his "priority must be to explain my errors following allegations over the use of parliamentary allowances".

"This will be time-consuming and stressful," he went on. "I have referred my case to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and will co-operate fully with his inquiry."

Mr Chaytor, an MP since 1997, already faced being de-selected as a Labour candidate after it emerged he claimed almost 13,000 on a non-existent mortgage.

He is to pay back the sum after continuing to submit 1,175 monthly bills for months after the loan was paid off.

In a statement this morning, he said he would continue his constituency and Parliamentary work "conscientiously and to the best of my ability".

"However, I will not be able to commit myself to my usual constituency campaigning during this period," he said.

"Therefore, it is only fair to my constituents, to my party and to my family that we quickly start the process of selecting a new candidate to fight for Labour in Bury North.

"I do not want my self-inflicted problems to be a distraction to my party's campaign as we move towards the General Election."

Mr Chaytor said MPs had failed collectively to reform an "archaic and secretive" allowances system.

"This has been a systemic failure in our democracy for which we all must accept responsibility," he said.

"We need to build a system that commands public trust, and do it quickly."

* FORMER health secretary Patricia Hewitt announced today she was leaving Parliament at the next election, but denied her decision was related to the row over MPs' expenses.

The 60-year-old told her local newspaper, the Leicester Mercury, that she wanted to spend more time with her family. She has been MP for Leicester West since 1997.

Ms Hewitt, who left the Government when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, is the latest MP to announce their retirement since the expenses scandal broke.

According to the Daily Telegraph, her claims included 920 in legal fees when she moved out of a flat in her constituency before staying in hotels and then renting another flat in Leicester.

She also claimed for furniture, including 194 for blinds delivered to her London home, the paper reported.

But Ms Hewitt said her decision was family-motivated. She said: "The truth is that after 13 years as an MP and 10 years in Government, I have not seen enough of my family. They have paid a high price for that."