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Brooks Newmark to quit parliament at the 2015 general election Brooks Newmark to quit parliament at the 2015 general election
(about 4 hours later)
Conservative MP Brooks Newmark, who quit as a minister over an internet sex scandal, is to stand down from parliament. Conservative MP Brooks Newmark, who quit as a minister after he sent explicit photos to an undercover journalist posing as a Tory supporter on Twitter, has announced he will stand down at the next election.
Newmark, who served as minister for civil society and founded the Women2Win campaign group, had exchanged suggestive pictures over the internet with a reporter posing as a young Tory PR woman. The former minister for civil society said he had taken the decision because of the “intolerable” media spotlight on himself and his family. The announcement came as another Sunday newspaper claimed it had “uncovered a new shame” about the American-born MP for Braintree in Essex.
In a letter to the prime minister, the American-born MP for Braintree said he would quit at the general election next May. Newmark, who founded the Women2Win campaign group that aimed to get more women involved in politics, resigned after exchanging suggestive pictures with a Sunday Mirror reporter.
The 56-year-old married father-of-five sent a letter to David Cameron on Saturday saying he would not seek re-election in May.
He wrote: “The continued media intrusion into past episodes in my personal life is placing an intolerable burden on my family. I have therefore decided to stand down at the general election. I will continue to serve my constituents to the best of my abilities until that time.He wrote: “The continued media intrusion into past episodes in my personal life is placing an intolerable burden on my family. I have therefore decided to stand down at the general election. I will continue to serve my constituents to the best of my abilities until that time.
“I again appeal to the media to respect my family’s privacy and to give me a chance to try to heal the hurt I have caused them.“I again appeal to the media to respect my family’s privacy and to give me a chance to try to heal the hurt I have caused them.
“I have no one to blame but myself and take full responsibility for my own actions.“I have no one to blame but myself and take full responsibility for my own actions.
“I will remain a loyal supporter of the government and would like to thank the many friends and colleagues for the support and sympathy they have shown me and my family.”“I will remain a loyal supporter of the government and would like to thank the many friends and colleagues for the support and sympathy they have shown me and my family.”
Newmark was caught in a Sunday Mirror sting involving an operation that used a fictitious party activist to flirt with MPs via social media.
The 56-year-old married father of five tendered his resignation after learning that the newspaper was about to publish details of their exchanges.
It came just hours after Mark Reckless announced he was defecting from the Tories to Ukip, landing a double blow on David Cameron on the eve of the Conservative party conference.