Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen arrested on suspicion of sexual assault

Backbencher arrested at central London flat where alleged assault of 29-year-old parliamentary researcher took place Andrew Bridgen, the Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire, has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault of a 29-year-old woman. The assault is alleged to have happened in the early hours of Thursday morning and the 46-year-old MP, elected for the first time last year, was arrested at the scene, a flat in central London. It is understood the women is a parliamentary researcher, but not in Bridgen’s office. The Metropolitan police said: “A 46-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault against a 29-year-old woman at an address in SW1 in the early hours of Thursday 9 June. The man has been bailed to return on a date in mid-July.” Bridgen has been an active backbencher with a relatively low profile since he won his Midlands seat in May. He is on the right of the party and campaigned against the alternative vote system in last month’s referendum. He sits on the regulatory reform committee in parliament and holds no other official posts. A father of two and married since 2000, it is understood Bridgen was recently separated from his wife. His most high-profile political intervention came on Tuesday when he defended the government’s NHS reforms, appearing on the BBC’s Newsnight and saying: “If we fail to go through with these reforms, we are caving in to Stalinist protectionist elements.” He originally trained as an officer in the Royal Marines before returning to his family’s successful agricultural business, selling pre-washed vegetables. He is currently the non-executive chairman of that company, AB Produce plc. The register of members financial interests records that he is paid £7,773 monthly for six hours work. He was previously the East Midlands chairman of the Institute of Directors and served on the East Midlands Regional Assembly as a business representative. He opened his maiden speech in the Commons on 3 June last year by saying: “I took advice on what the contents of a maiden speech should be, and I was surprised by some of what I heard. I was told that my speech should have all the attributes of a lady’s well-cut dress, meaning that it should be long enough to cover all the important points but still short enough to be interesting.” He went on to set out his Eurosceptic agenda. “It is not just as a politician but also from a business perspective that my views on Europe have developed over the last 20 years,” he said. “In 1997 we were the fourth most competitive place in the world in which to do business, but now we are a lowly 84th. Much of that is due to regulation from Europe. This cannot continue.” He is a regular in the chamber having attended an above-average 121 debates in the past year and voted in 87% of the House’s votes. Last month in a written question to the justice secretary Kenneth Clarke he asked “what steps he is taking to increase the efficiency of the criminal justice system”. Bridgen, won the North West Leicestershire seat with a 12% swing from Labour at the 2010 election. The seat was previously held by Labour MP David Taylor who died on Boxing Day 2009 after a heart attack. A key marginal, it had been held by Labour since 1997. In 2010 there was also a sizeable Liberal Democrat vote, suggesting that the seat could be winnable for Labour if Bridgen was found guilty and a byelection triggered. On Tuesday Bridgen joined Twitter for the first time, highlighting his Newsnight appearance later that night. The news of his arrest emerged first on the same social networking site. On his parliamentary website he lists business and enterprise, civil liberties, law and order and the armed forces as his interests. A spokesman for the Conservative party said: “At the moment, this is a matter for the police, who are investigating, and it would be inappropriate to comment further until the facts are clear.” Conservatives Crime Polly Curtis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 9, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.