MP pleads guilty to false accounting charges

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Independent MP Eric Illsley – a former Labour MP until he was suspended by the party – has pleaded guilty to three counts of false accounting at Southwark Crown Court. Isley fraudulently claimed more than £14,000 in expenses.

This comes in the wake of David Chaytor’s sentencing last week, in what is becoming second wave of bad stories for the party on expenses.

Discussion will now turn to the possibility of a by-election in Illsley’s Barnsley seat – one Labour would be expected to win comfortably. As a safe Labour seat, competition for the Labour nomination would be fierce.

Update I: Gary Gibbon rightly notes that Illsley can stay on as an MP if he is sentenced to less than 12 months in prison. Having admitted illegally taking £14,000 from the public, he would be wrong to try – and Labour MPs should be willing to force the issue if he won’t go.

Update II: According to PoliticsHome, Ed Miliband has called for Illsley to resign as an MP:

“I think he should now do the right thing and resign as a member of parliament because I don’t think he can be a credible voice for his constituents having pleaded guilty to such as serious offence.”

We’re also hearing rumours that Labour will seek to force the issue in parliament, by seeking to have Illsley expelled as an MP.