CLAIMS of sexual misconduct against former Somerton and Frome MP David Warburton should be reinvestigated, an expert panel has said.

Former Conservative Mr Warburton resigned as an MP last month after a probe into allegations of drug use and sexual misconduct.

He admitted using cocaine and apologised after failing to declare a six-figure loan from a Russian he lobbied for in a separate incident.

However, he appealed against the rulings over the allegations of sexual misconduct.

A three-person panel convened to hear the appeal has agreed and ordered the probe to start again.

In their report, the panel said: “The complainant was a member of staff in Mr Warburton’s Westminster office.

“She made a complaint against Mr Warburton to the ICGS helpline on 28 March, 2022. Following the initial assessment by an independent Investigator appointed by the ICGS the contents were organised under six allegations, four of a breach of the sexual misconduct policy and two of the bullying and harassment policy.

“Following his investigation, the Investigator recommended upholding two of the sexual misconduct allegations.

“Having reviewed the Investigator’s report the Commissioner concluded that the Investigator had not “appropriately considered and weighed the relevant evidence” and that his judgement was not in line with the definitions in the ICGS policies.

“Therefore, the Commissioner based his conclusions on the primary evidence collected by the Investigator. He decided to uphold three of the sexual misconduct allegations. In doing so he disagreed with the Investigator’s recommendations.”

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The panel – made up of chair Johanna Higgins, Sir Stephen Irwin and Dr Matthew Vickers – said they upheld the appeal.

“It found that the Investigator had failed properly to pursue the suggestion by the respondent that the complainant had colluded with witnesses to fabricate the complaint against him,” the report said.

“The respondent had submitted material that might be capable of supporting his argument, but it had not been properly assessed by the Investigator or the Commissioner.

“The Commissioner also failed fully to consider whether the complainant’s breach of confidentiality at the beginning of the process, and her denial of it, affected her credibility.

“The subpanel also concluded that the Commissioner had relied on evidence that had not been adequately tested during the investigation; had omitted evidence from his considerations that might have been useful; and that in parts his reasoning was not sufficient to explain how he had reached his conclusions.”

However, they said the made ‘no findings on the substance of the complaint’, or Mr Warburton’s allegations, which remain ‘open questions for the new investigation’.

Mr Warburton said: “I do very much welcome the IEP ruling that has upheld my appeal.”