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Recall petition for convicted MP Chris Davies confirmed


An MP convicted for a false expenses claim will face a recall petition, House of Commons speaker John Bercow has confirmed.

Chris Davies tried to split the cost of photographs between two office budgets by faking invoices, when he could have claimed the amount by other means.

If 10% of eligible voters in the constituency sign it a by-election would be held.

It comes as Mr Davies' local constituency association backed the MP.

Brecon and Radnorshire Tory chairman Peter Weavers said Mr Davies had been caught by an "arcane" law, and said he would be happy to see him run again if a by-election takes place.

Mr Bercow confirmed in the Commons on Wednesday that Mr Davies will face a recall petition.

The House of Commons Speaker told MPs he will write to the relevant petition officer following Mr Davies' conviction - it will then be up to Powys County Council to organise the exercise.

Mr Davies was given a community order of 50 hours unpaid work and a £1,500 fine at his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, following guilty pleas in March.

The Liberal Democrats and Labour have both called for the MP to resign.

In a short statement to the Commons Mr Bercow said: "I have received a communication this afternoon from Southwark Crown Court informing me that Chris Davies, the member for Brecon and Radnorshire, has been convicted of providing false or misleading information for a parliamentary allowances claim."

The charges related to when Mr Davies was setting up his constituency office following the 2015 general election.

An MP convicted for a false expenses claim will face a recall petition, House of Commons speaker John Bercow has confirmed.


Chris Davies tried to split the cost of photographs between two office budgets by faking invoices, when he could have claimed the amount by other means.


If 10% of eligible voters in the constituency sign it a by-election would be held.


It comes as Mr Davies' local constituency association backed the MP.


Brecon and Radnorshire Tory chairman Peter Weavers said Mr Davies had been caught by an "arcane" law, and said he would be happy to see him run again if a by-election takes place.


Mr Bercow confirmed in the Commons on Wednesday that Mr Davies will face a recall petition.


The House of Commons Speaker told MPs he will write to the relevant petition officer following Mr Davies' conviction - it will then be up to Powys County Council to organise the exercise.


Mr Davies was given a community order of 50 hours unpaid work and a £1,500 fine at his sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, following guilty pleas in March.


The Liberal Democrats and Labour have both called for the MP to resign.


In a short statement to the Commons Mr Bercow said: "I have received a communication this afternoon from Southwark Crown Court informing me that Chris Davies, the member for Brecon and Radnorshire, has been convicted of providing false or misleading information for a parliamentary allowances claim."


The charges related to when Mr Davies was setting up his constituency office following the 2015 general election.


In 2016, he tried to split a genuine cost of £700 for photographs for his office between two budgets by faking two separate invoices.


The court heard only one of them, for £450, was reimbursed, from a start-up budget that only had about £480 remaining in it and was not due to roll over and otherwise may have been lost.


Davies would have been allowed to claim the whole amount from a separate budget for office costs.

Mr Weavers said he would be happy to see Mr Davies to stand again as the Conservative candidate if a by-election was held.

"We want good MPs that fight for Brecon and Radnorshire. I would be urging him to stay on the ballot."

"He's immediately accepted that he's made an error," the constituency chairman said. "He's been caught by a piece of law which is arcane."


He said comments by the judge saying the offence would not be an offence for anyone else other than an MP "puts it in context".


"I think the nature of the sentence, the modest sentence, reflects the nature of the case," he said.

"There were no victims. He didn't claim any money, there was no suggestion that he was in anyway dishonest or trying to defraud anyone."


"The association is 100% supportive of Chris. I think I can speak for every member there," he added.



In 2016, he tried to split a genuine cost of £700 for photographs for his office between two budgets by faking two separate invoices.
The court heard only one of them, for £450, was reimbursed, from a start-up budget that only had about £480 remaining in it and was not due to roll over and otherwise may have been lost.

Davies would have been allowed to claim the whole amount from a separate budget for office costs.

Mr Weavers said he would be happy to see Mr Davies to stand again as the Conservative candidate if a by-election was held.

"We want good MPs that fight for Brecon and Radnorshire. I would be urging him to stay on the ballot."

"He's immediately accepted that he's made an error," the constituency chairman said. "He's been caught by a piece of law which is arcane."

He said comments by the judge saying the offence would not be an offence for anyone else other than an MP "puts it in context".

"I think the nature of the sentence, the modest sentence, reflects the nature of the case," he said.

"There were no victims. He didn't claim any money, there was no suggestion that he was in anyway dishonest or trying to defraud anyone."

"The association is 100% supportive of Chris. I think I can speak for every member there," he added.

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