Neil Parish named as MP 'watching porn in Commons' a former Torfaen candidate

Earlier today, it was revealed that Conservative MP Neil Parish is the member of parliament who has reported himself to the Standards Committee of the House, following the allegations.

But, while he is best known as the MP for Tiverton and Honiton, he was formerly the Parliamentary candidate for Torfaen.

Standing at the 1997 General Election, he served as the Conservative candidate for Torfaen – though he would ultimately lose by a landslide.

At the ballot box, he secured 5,327 votes in the Gwent constituency, just over 12 per cent of the total.

Neil Parish

It wasn’t enough to unseat longstanding Labour MP Paul Murphy, who represented the region in Westminster from 1987 to 2015.

Ultimately, Mr Parish was defeated by a margin of 24,536 votes.

Beyond this, he served as member of the European Parliament representing the South West of England prior to his election as MP in 2010.

What allegations have been made?

Earlier this week, two female Conservative Party members made a complaint, alleging that they had seen Mr Parish viewing adult material on his phone while sat next to them.

The allegation, made initially by a minister, revealed that the alleged incident took place inside the chamber of the House of Commons.

In recent days, opposition parties have heaped pressure on the Government to name the individual accused, and to encourage him to resign.

Today, a spokesperson for the Chief Whip told The Telegraph: "Having spoken to the Chief Whip this afternoon, Neil Parish MP is reporting himself to the Standards Committee of the House of Commons.

"Mr Parish has been suspended from the Conservative Whip pending the outcome of that investigation."

Earlier, Attorney General Suella Braverman said if the subject of the complaint was found to have been watching adult material it should result in them “no longer holding their privileged position as a Member of Parliament”.