A Conservative MP has been suspended by the party after an investigation was launched into sexual harassment allegations.
Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme is probing claims made against David Warburton by three women.
The Sunday Times also reported allegations that Warburton had taken cocaine, and that he had failed to declare a £100,000 loan from a Russian businessman.
A spokesperson for the Whips Office said: “David Warburton MP has had the Conservative Party whip removed while the investigation is ongoing.”
Warburton, 56, the MP for Somerton and Frome, has denied the allegations.
The married father-of-two told the Sunday Telegraph: “I have enormous amounts of defence, but unfortunately the way that things work means that doesn’t come out first.
“I have heard nothing whatsoever from the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. I’m sorry, I can’t comment any further.”
Warburton was first elected in 2015 with a majority of 20,268, or 53% of the vote. According to the MP’s website, at 18.3%, this represented the largest constituency swing to the Conservative Party.
He was re-elected in 2017 and 2019, with majorities of 22,906 and 19,213, respectively.
He is the current chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music and was previously a member of the Commons European Scrutiny Committee.
Prior to being an MP, Warburton’s website says he taught music for five years at an inner-city mixed community school in London before founding the technology company The Music Solution Ltd in 1999, which later became Pitch Entertainment Group.
He went on to set up two building property restoration and development companies in 2009, his website says, and co-founded the online business MyHigh.St in 2012.