Imran Ahmad Khan resigns as MP after being found guilty of sexually assaulting 15-year-old boy

Imran Ahmad Khan has resigned as an MP after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

Imran Ahmad Khan was expelled from the Conservative Party on Monday

Khan, who represented Wakefield in West Yorkshire, had been resisting calls to stand down since he was thrown out of the Conservative Party when he was convicted on Monday.

But he said it was "intolerable" for voters in the constituency to lack representation while he appeals and said stepping down would allow him to "focus entirely on clearing my name".

Boris Johnson now faces a potentially challenging by-election in Wakefield.

In a statement posted to Twitter, Khan said: "While legal proceedings are ongoing, I do not believe that it would ordinarily be appropriate to resign.

"However, owing to long delays in the legal process, my constituents have already been without visible parliamentary representation for a year. Even in the best case scenario, anticipated legal proceedings could last many more months.

Khan said he would appeal the court's verdict

"I have therefore regrettably come to the conclusion that it is intolerable for constituents to go years without an MP who can amplify their voices in Parliament."

He said his constituents "deserve better than this" and therefore he was resigning as MP for Wakefield and "withdrawing from political life."

Labour held Wakefield from the 1930s until Khan's victory in the 2019 general election.

His resignation sets up a tough battle for the Tories, as the prime minister fights to remain leader after he was fined for breaching his own coronavirus lockdown laws.

During the trial at Southwark Crown Court, the jury heard Khan forced a 15-year-old boy to drink gin and tonic at a party before he dragged the teenager upstairs, pushed him on to a bed and asked him to watch pornography before the attack.

The victim, now 29, said Khan touched his feet and legs and the MP came within "a hair's breadth" of his privates as he tried to sleep in a top bunk bed.

He ran to his parents and a police report was made at the time, but no further action was taken because he did not want to make a formal complaint.

But he told the court "it all came flooding back" when Khan stood as a Conservative in the December 2019 general election.

He said he was not "taken very seriously" when he made the allegation to the Conservative Party press office days before Khan was elected as MP for Wakefield.

He made a complaint to the police days after Khan helped Mr Johnson win a large Commons majority by taking Wakefield.

Khan was found guilty by a jury after five hours of deliberations.

Janes Solicitors, the firm representing Khan, said he "maintains his innocence" and "will be appealing as soon as possible". 

Reference: Sky News: Samuel Osborne, politics reporter