The report into Chris Pincher is out and it makes for damning reading. An eight-week suspension is recommended for the Tamworth MP following allegations he groped two people at the Carlton Club last summer. This means that a by-election is now highly likely. A 10 per cent threshold of petitioners is necessary to trigger a contest; across the three previous recall cases, there has been an average of 18 per cent. Official announcement of a contest could come as soon as next month.
This then raises the question as to what CCHQ has been doing to prepare for the contest. The Pincher scandal broke in July last year; the Standards Commissioner announced an investigation in October. A by-election at that point looked inevitable. Who did the Tories then select to contest the seat? Eddie Hughes, the incumbent MP for Walsall North – a constituency that will be abolished in the boundary review.
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