FRODSHAM based former Labour MP Mike Amesbury has announced he will be standing down as an MP after being given a prison sentence for repeatedly punching a constituent.
The Runcorn and Helsby MP told the BBC he will begin the “statutory process” of winding up his office before resigning as an MP “as soon as possible”.
His decision will trigger the first by-election of Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government. Amesbury was given a 10-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he admitted assaulting Paul Fellows.
In his first interview since the sentencing, Amesbury said he “regrets” attacking Mr Fellows “every moment, every day”.
Amesbury told the BBC he would have tried to remain an MP – a job he said was his “calling” – had he been given a lighter community sentence.
“I would have continued to serve my constituents, I was elected just seven or eight months ago,” he said.
“And that would have been my intention, if I was able to, to continue.”
Under parliamentary rules, if an MP receives a custodial sentence, a “recall petition” is triggered.
If at least 10% of his constituents had voted to remove Amesbury, a by-election would have been called – potentially ousting him as MP.
Asked about his future, Amesbury told the BBC: “I’m going to step aside at the earliest opportunity.
“I’ve got processes I must go through – there’s a statutory process in terms of redundancies,” he said.
Amesbury described the fallout from his court case as “difficult”, but said he “owns” his mistake.
Amesbury defended continuing to take his MP wages – despite not appearing in House of Commons debates since the video of him punching Mr Fellows first surfaced in October 2024.
He told the BBC he carried out casework for his constituents, even while behind bars.
“I actually picked up some casework in prison,” Amesbury said, as his office manager forwarded on “correspondence”.
“Life doesn’t stop as an MP,” he added.
Amesbury spent three nights in jail following his 10-week sentence being handed down at Chester Magistrates’ Court on 24 February.
Chester Crown Court later suspended his sentence, allowing him to serve his time in the community instead of behind bars.
As part of his suspended sentence, Amesbury must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, undertake an alcohol monitoring programme, go on an anger management course and carry out 20 days of rehabilitation work.