The West of England mayor and MP Dan Norris has been arrested by police and suspended by Labour, swelling the ranks of Labour-elected independent MPs to seven and threatening to overshadow the imminent mayoral election.
Labour confirmed on Saturday it had suspended the party membership of the one-time junior New Labour minister, removing the whip from the MP and mayor for the West of England region over his arrest, though the party declined to confirm the nature of the allegations against Norris.
Helen Godwin, Labour’s mayoral candidate to replace Norris, who was forced to choose between Parliament and the mayoralty last year after Labour tightened rules on double-jobbing, quickly issued a statement after the announcement.
“I am shocked and upset by the serious allegations regarding Dan Norris today,” she said on X.
She highlighted Labour’s “swift action” to suspend Norris, but suggested she could not say much more due to the ongoing police investigation.
Labour won the mayoral race by 59.5% to the Tories’ 40.5% last time round in the final round of voting, and elections for the post will be held in just a few weeks’ time. Norris was not able to re-stand and maintain his constituency after conference backed a party motion limiting politicians’ ability to hold two jobs last September.
If the rules had not been changed, Norris may well have been standing again and then suspended as a candidate today – as other candidates have been recently while facing investigations – plunging Labour’s campaign for a key mayoralty into far deeper disarray.
It also would have been too late to change ballot papers to make clear Norris was running as independent rather than on a Labour ticket, much as Azhar Ali was similarly on ballot papers as a Labour parliamentary by-election candidate despite being disowned by the party over comments about Israel.
Helen Godwin, a former Bristol councillor, was picked to replace Norris, setting out her priorities in an oped for LabourList earlier this year:
Notably Norris already went unmentioned on Godwin’s website and in at least one of her Bristol leaflets prior to today’s news despite being the incumbent, with Godwin pledging “a new chapter”. Norris is not even listed among the endorsers highlighted either.
Meanwhile Norris’ Commons seat is likely to remain a key election battleground at the next general election, with Norris dislodged in 2010 as local MP by Jacob Rees-Mogg, who he then unseated to win it back for Labour only last year. Norris became MP for North East Somerset and Hanham amid boundary changes.
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“Most of the offences are alleged to have occurred in the 2000s, but we’re also investigating an alleged offence of rape from the 2020s. An investigation, led by officers within Operation Bluestone, our dedicated rape and serious sexual assault investigation team, remains ongoing and at an early stage. The victim is being supported and given access to any specialist help or support she needs.
“A man, aged in his sixties, was arrested on Friday (April 4) on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl (under the Sexual Offences Act 1956), rape (under the Sexual Offences Act 2003), child abduction and misconduct in a public office. He’s been released on conditional bail for enquiries to continue.
“This is an active and sensitive investigation, so we’d respectfully ask people not to speculate on the circumstances so our enquiries can continue unhindered.”
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