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Mike Amesbury has resigned as an MP after being given a prison sentence for punching a constituent, triggering the first byelection of Keir Starmer’s government.
The Runcorn and Helsby MP was suspended by Labour and lost the party whip in October after a video of the incident on a night out was published online. He was given a 10-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Amesbury told the BBC he would “step aside at the earliest opportunity”. Since it became clear that he would have to resign or face a recall petition, Labour has been planning for a byelection in the Cheshire seat, which it won at the general election with a 14,696 majority.
Nominations for a candidate opened last week and the application process closed days later, with a selection meeting in the constituency expected on Thursday, the Guardian understands.
After a difficult first six months in power, Labour has been buoyed in recent weeks by Starmer’s handling of complex geopolitics around the war in Ukraine, acting as a bridge between European nations and the unpredictable US president, Donald Trump.
The byelection will also be the first big test for Reform UK since its surge in the national polls, and it has already started campaigning in the area. Nigel Farage’s party has been mired in chaos in recent days, however, with a fierce clash at the top leading to Rupert Lowe losing the whip.
The Conservatives, who finished only two points behind Reform last July, also face their first big byelection challenge under Kemi Badenoch, potentially highlighting her failure to rebuild support and adding credibility to Reform’s claims it could displace the Tories as the main party of the right.
Rob Ford, a professor of politics at Manchester University, said: “Labour have a 35 point majority in Runcorn and Helsby, which may look big, but these are volatile times, and Reform UK are in second place.”
He said the constituency would fall on a 17.5-point swing away from the government. Starmer achieved six swings of 20 points or more in the previous parliament, with Labour about as unpopular now as its Conservative predecessors were then.
“A Labour defeat to Reform would be a big blow to morale and intensify internal arguments over how to respond to Farage, particularly as it would come either soon before or soon after local and mayoral contests which will also feature Reform heavily,” he said.
“A Reform byelection win on such a big swing would be a huge deal for Farage, demonstrating his claim to be ‘coming for Labour’ is credible, and likely also showing that Reform can squeeze third-placed Conservative voters where they are the best placed local opponent to Labour.”
Labour sources cautioned that the byelection would be “very, very” tough for the party. “We have had to do a lot of tough stuff early on as part of a long-term plan,” one said.
In his first interview since the sentencing, Amesbury told the BBC he regretted attacking his constituent Paul Fellows “every moment, every day”. He would have tried to stay in the job had he been given a lighter community sentence. “I’m going to step aside at the earliest opportunity,” he said. “I’ve got processes I must go through, there’s a statutory process in terms of redundancies.”
He described the fallout from his court case as difficult but said he owned his mistake. He defended continuing to take his MP’s pay – despite not appearing in the Commons since the video of the assault first emerged – saying he carried out casework for his constituents even while behind bars.
He also rejected suggestions he had been treated lightly in having his sentence suspended, saying he was “going to lose the family home”, his livelihood and walk away with a criminal record. “If people think that’s lightly, so be it,” he said.
Amesbury spent three nights in jail after his 10-week sentence was 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.
As part of his suspended sentence, he 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.
Amesbury was first elected to parliament in 2017 to represent the Weaver Vale constituency and served in a number of frontbench positions between 2018 and 2023 under Starmer and Jeremy Corbyn.
