Tory MP Crispin Blunt has been arrested over an allegation of rape and possession of controlled substances. The 63-year-old member of parliament for Reigate was arrested and questioned by Surrey police on Wednesday morning.
He has now had the whip suspended by the Conservative Party and he has been asked to stay away from the parliamentary estate. After reports of the arrest of an unnamed Conservative MP emerged on Thursday evening, Mr Blunt issued a statement on Twitter/X vowing to clear his name.
He claimed that he had initially been interviewed by police after he reported an alleged extortion. “It has been reported that an MP was arrested yesterday in connection with an allegation of rape,” Mr Blunt wrote. “I am confirming that MP was me.
Conservative MP Crispin Blunt had already announced he will stand down at the next election
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“The fact of the arrest requires a formal notification of the speaker and then my chief whip. I have now been interviewed twice in connection with this incident, the first time three weeks ago, when I initially reported my concern over extortion. The second time was earlier this morning under caution following arrest.
“The arrest was unnecessary as I remain ready to cooperate fully with the investigation that I am confident will end without charge. I do not intend to say anything further on this matter until the police have completed their inquiries.”
Mr Blunt confirmed he was the MP arrested and says it was ‘unnecessary’
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Mr Blunt has been the MP for Reigate, Surrey since 1997. Last year he announced he would not be standing for the Conservatives at the next election.
He joined the army aged 18 for officer training at Sandhurst, serving in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars until 1990. He left the army to join the world of politics, though failed to get elected as an MP in West Bromwich East in 1992.
He went on to serve as Malcolm Rifkind’s special adviser during Mr Rifkind’s terms as defence secretary and then foreign secretary, between 1993 and 1997. He was elected as Conservative MP for Reigate on 1 May 1997.
In 2010, while he was prisons minister, he announced he was splitting from his wife Victoria, revealing he had told his family that he had “decided to come to terms with [my] homosexuality”.
A statement from his office at the time said that there was no third party involved and asked the media to respect his family’s privacy. The couple have one daughter and one son.
Crispin Blunt will not stand in the next election
(PA)
He has served as opposition spokesperson for Northern Ireland, shadow minister in the Department of Trade and Industry, opposition whip and shadow minister for national security.
A Surrey police spokesman told The Independent: “We can confirm a man was arrested yesterday morning [25 October] on suspicion of rape and possession of controlled substances. He has been released on conditional police bail pending further enquiries.”
Mr Blunt’s arrest is the latest in a string of allegations involving sitting Conservative MPs, dealing another damaging blow to Rishi Sunak and his vow to get tough on sleaze.
Former Tory MP Peter Bone was suspended on Wednesday for six weeks for bullying and sexual misconduct against a staff member. MPs approved the lengthy sanction against the MP for Wellingborough, who has been sitting as an independent since losing the Conservative whip.
In September, Tory whip Chris Pincher resigned from his government role after allegations that he had groped two people while drunk. A standards committee upheld allegations Mr Pincher “groped” two men at London’s exclusive Carlton Club while he was the Conservative deputy chief whip, in a scandal that hastened Boris Johnson’s downfall.
In May 2022, it emerged that a Tory MP in his 50s had been arrested on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office.
The Tory whips’ office said at the time that the MP had been asked not to “attend the Parliamentary estate while an investigation is ongoing”. The latest extension to his bail is to mid-February.
Last December, another senior Conservative MP was reported to the police over allegations they committed rape and a string of sexual assaults. The MP was reported to the Metropolitan Police by a group of colleagues, themselves Tory MPs.
And a Conservative MP was arrested on suspicion of rape in 2020. He was never identified and police took no further action after an investigation.
