Former Tory MP Mark Menzies quits amid claims he misused party funds

Mark Menzies, who used to be a member of the Conservative party and served as a Member of Parliament, has decided to leave both the party and his position in parliament. This decision comes after an internal investigation discovered a "pattern of behavior" that did not meet the expected standards for MPs.

The representative for Fylde declared that he will not be a candidate in the forthcoming election. This decision was made after accusations were made that he had inappropriately used funds during his campaign. The matter has now been referred to the Lancashire police for further investigation.

The Conservative Party announced that their internal investigation did not uncover any inappropriate use of party funds. They claim that the evidence they have reviewed demonstrated that all contributions were correctly reported to both the Electoral Commission and parliamentary authorities.

Despite Menzies' denial of the allegations, an investigation discovered that his actions did not meet the required standards for someone responsible for local campaign finances. Additionally, it is possible that his behavior breached the Nolan principles that govern standards of public conduct.

The Labour party had criticized the Conservative party for not taking any action for over three months after the allegations were first made. In addition, the Liberal Democrats demanded that the prime minister's advisor on ministers' interests look into how the situation was handled.

A representative from the Conservative Party has stated that it is untrue to claim that they have not been thoroughly reviewing the issue. However, they have only looked into the potential misuse of funds from within their own party.

The Member of Parliament has given up their membership with the Conservative Party and has been stopped from working as a trade representative for the government following accusations made by The Times newspaper. The paper claimed that the MP used funds meant for politics to pay for healthcare and had paid off criminals who had imprisoned them in a residence and asked for a large sum of money in exchange for their release.

The person who once managed Menzies' campaign claimed to have received a request for money from Menzies during a late night phone call. This individual expressed feeling disappointed with the party after attempting to address the situation with the help of chief whip Simon Hart back in January.

Menzies made a statement saying that he feels privileged to have represented the people of Fylde since 2010. However, he has decided to step down from the Conservative party and will not be a candidate in the upcoming general election. This decision was made due to personal pressures affecting both himself and his elderly mother.

This week has been extremely challenging for me, and I kindly ask for privacy regarding my family.

Menzies currently has a significant lead of over 16,000 votes in his constituency, which has historically been held by the Conservative party. However, with Labour currently polling approximately 20 percentage points higher across the country, this seat could potentially become a competitive battleground for the first time.

On Friday, Rishi Sunak didn't state whether Menzies should step down from his position as MP for Fylde. However, he did mention to reporters in London after giving a speech that it was appropriate for Menzies to have surrendered the whip.

A representative from the Conservative party stated that the funds that were given to Mark Menzies MP were approved by the two individuals responsible for Fylde Westminster Group. This group is separate from both the Conservative party and Fylde Conservative Association, so we cannot determine if Conservative party funds were misused.

Nonetheless, we are of the opinion that there has been a repeated conduct that is below the level of behavior anticipated from Members of Parliament and persons in charge of handling contributions to community campaign funds that are not under the direct control of the Conservative party.

As a result, we are starting to educate party members on how to handle accounts that are not under the jurisdiction of the Conservative party. Additionally, we are implementing a hotline for reporting any potential wrongdoing.

Also, even though it was not part of the primary investigation, it has been suggested that the conduct of the Member of Parliament being discussed may have violated the Nolan principles of public service.

The reason for this investigation is because of the type of accusations made and the fact that they keep coming up repeatedly. The Conservative party's group responsible for overseeing its members will assess the situation.

Naturally, we will disclose any relevant data to the authorities should they deem it useful in a potential investigation that they choose to pursue.

During Sunday evening, Anneliese Dodds, who is the chair of the Labour party, stated that Menzies made a wise decision to exit from parliament, however, there are still some important inquiries that need to be answered by Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party.

She expressed that the lack of effort from the Conservatives to reach out to the whistleblowers even though they promised to do so weeks ago, and now claiming that the investigation is over, proves how little they are taking these accusations into consideration.

The top officials of the Conservative party, namely the chairman and chief whip, should display transparency by revealing the measures they have implemented to address the disturbing accusations. They should not conceal themselves from public scrutiny but instead take prompt action.