Labour MP jailed for perverting course of justice

Labour MP Fiona Onasanya has been jailed for perverting the course of justice after being found guilty of lying to police over who was behind the wheel of a speeding car.

Fiona Onasanya. Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire

Ms Onasanya, 35, was given the three month custodial sentence at the Old Bailey in London after she was found to have lied about who was driving her car when it was spotted going 11pmh over the limit within her set of Peterborough.

The former Solicitor will now face a ‘recall petition’ which will determine whether or not there will be a by-election held in her seat.

MPs are not expelled from the Commons if they receive a jail sentence of less than twelve months.

In the wake of the guilty verdict, Onasanya was expelled from the Labour Party, with the local Constituency Labour Party understood to be backing the recall petition.

Onasanya took the marginal seat from the Tories with a majority of just 607 at the 2017 election just 18 months ago.

A recall petition can force a by-election if it is signed by more than 10% of the electorate in the Cambridgeshire seat.