David Curry is already standing down as an MP at the next general election, and a new Conservative candidate, Julian Smith, was recently selected.
However, as a final role before leaving the Commons, Mr Curry replaced Sir George Young as chairman of the Commons' Standards and Privileges Committee when the latter was recently promoted to the Shadow Cabinet.
But tonight the Skipton and Ripon MP and former minister has stood down from that position on the back of this story in tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:
"David Curry, the MP who heads the committee responsible for policing Commons expenses, has claimed almost £30,000 for a second home that his wife has banned him from staying in, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. After learning of the Telegraph investigation, David Curry resigned as chairman of the Parliamentary Standards and Privileges Committee and now faces a formal inquiry into his claims. The Conservative MP is accused of having an affair with a headmistress in his Yorkshire constituency and using a taxpayer-funded cottage to meet his lover.
"A Telegraph investigation has learned that four years ago, after discovering the affair, Mr Curry’s French wife Anne demanded that he does not stay at the Yorkshire property as a condition of the couple’s reconciliation. However, the former Conservative minister has continued claiming thousands of pounds a year for the house – which he could expect to sell for a substantial profit after leaving Parliament. After the Telegraph approached Mr Curry with the allegations, he announced that he was referring himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner. He said he would stand down from the Standards committee during the investigation, which is expected to take several months."
More here.
Friday update: The Press Association reports Mr Curry's reaction to the story:
Speaking from his family home in Saffron Waldon in Essex, he said: "My wife has not banned me from anything. I had an affair, there is no denying that. We got over it. If you were repairing your relationship with someone, you would want to spend as much time with them as possible."
On his expenses, he added: "My expenses are very modest. They are completely above board. I am the second cheapest MP in Yorkshire."
According to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Curry's wife demanded he did not use the cottage in his Yorkshire constituency after she discovered five years ago that he was having an affair. But challenged over the allegation, he said: "That's akin to Harry Potter. I have stayed in it hundreds, if not thousands, of times. I have had the house since 1987, I have not bought it on a speculative whim."
Jonathan Isaby
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