Mike Amesbury has stepped back as an MP (Image: Getty)
Mike Amesbury has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves formally resigning as the MP for Runcorn & Helsby after he was handed a suspended prison sentence for punching a man in the street.
The former Labour MP said last week he would quit the Commons after he was given a 10-week prison term for punching a constituent which was reduced to a suspended sentence following an appeal. He said was “sad” and “devastated”, adding: “Not only for me, but my staff as well, because, course, it goes beyond me, for my family. This is a result of something that I did on October 26.”
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Asked about the incident, Amesbury said “I should have walked away” and “I don’t recognise myself”.
He added: “But it is me, and it’s very important that I’ve owned that through the legal process, a plea of guilty.
“I’ve paid a price, I’ve been punished and rightfully so, and I hope that I learn from this.”
Amesbury apologised to the constituent he punched, adding: “I’m so sincerely sorry to Mr Fellows, his family, my own family.”
He described reliving the moment as “like a living nightmare” and added: “I’m the one that got things wrong, so I own it.”
Amesbury won his seat last year with a majority of 14,696 over Reform UK and his resignation will be a first by-election test for Sir ’s Labour Party.
‘s party is eyeing the constituency at a by-election, which could happen on May 1, to replace the MP.
Amesbury pleaded guilty in January to assaulting constituent Paul Fellows, 45, after a row in the street in Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of October 26.
Footage showed Amesbury punching Paul Fellows to the head, knocking him to the ground, then following him on to the road and starting to punch him again, at least five times.