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Expel Reform MP over girlfriend assault - council leader

BBC James McMurdock is standing in front of a Hackney cab carriage, which is painted in the colours of Reform UK (blue, white and red). He is wearing a navy blue suite and a blue tie.BBC
James McMurdock said his actions in 2006 prompted him to turn his life around

A council leader has called on Nigel Farage to expel one of his Reform UK MPs over their conviction for assaulting a former girlfriend.

James McMurdock admitted he pushed the woman in 2006, having been asked about the incident after winning the Essex seat of South Basildon and East Thurrock in July.

However, last week The Times reported further details from the court records, which reportedly said he kicked the victim about four times.

Gavin Callaghan, the Labour leader at Basildon Council, said Farage should have withdrawn the whip from McMurdock following the latest revelation.

"Nigel Farage is weak," said Callaghan.

"The fact he is not willing to address it like a real parliamentary leader, speaks volumes about him."

Matt Knight/BBC Gavin Callaghan, appearing bearded, with short brown hair, and a black or navy blue suit. He is looking at the camera, not smiling, with an off-white painted wall behind him.Matt Knight/BBC
Labour's Gavin Callaghan also referred to Nigel Farage as a "bluffer" for not addressing McMurdock's conviction like a "real parliamentary leader"

McMurdock won the seat at the general election by 98 votes. The Labour candidate came second, and the incumbent Conservative Stephen Metcalfe finished third.

After the election result, the Daily Mail said it spoke to the victim's mother, and McMurdock released a statement in response.

He said he was 19 years old at the time, that both of them were "very drunk" and that he handed himself into police "immediately".

"I faced the consequences then and paid for my action in full," he said.

"It was the realisation of what happened that night and the shame I felt over it that led me to turn my life around."

Reform UK said it was aware of the conviction and told the Mail it believed "strongly that people can change their lives".

Last week, the Times reported that he pleaded guilty late in the legal process and indicated a "lack of willingness to comply".

He spent a week in a young offenders institution.

McMurdock's office said it had nothing to add to his statement from July, when approached by the BBC last week.

James McMurdock is on the left, wearing a white t-shirt and grey hoodie. Nigel Farage is on the right, wearing a bright blue suit, a checked white shirt and a purple tie. Behind them are some football pitches.
Nigel Farage and James McMurdock met in person following both of their general election victories in July

Farage, the MP for Clacton and party leader, has stood by his colleague and on Thursday he said McMurdock did something "really awful a long time ago".

"It's not something he's proud of in any way at all, but you know, what's done is done, we have the rehabilitation of offenders' act - we have Christian forgiveness."

Pressed further, he suggested McMurdock - who went on to work in the City of London and was a married father-of-four - was a "story of genuine rehabilitation".

Prospective candidates for Parliament can stand for election despite having a criminal record, unless they have served a prison term or been detained for 12 months or more.

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