Disgraced ex-MP Fiona Onasanya says she won’t stand in Peterborough by-election
Onasanya, 35, served 28 days in prison for lying about a speeding offence
DISGRACED ex-MP Fiona Onasanya has finally given up her political career after announcing she will not fight the Peterborough by-election.
She became the first ever MP to be booted out of Parliament by her own constituents on Wednesday - triggering a new vote in the marginal seat on June 6.
And 48 hours after the humiliating result of the recall petition the former Labour MP broke her silence by telling her Twitter followers that she will not stand as an Independent candidate.
In a bizarre departing message to her few remaining supporters she said: “You can do it - the sky is not the limit when there are footsteps on the moon”.
It comes after the leader of Peterborough City Council cited her as a possible reason for people not voting in Thursday’s local elections.
In a worrying sign for the Tories ahead of the key by-election they yesterday lost control of Peterborough City Council.
'I WILL CLEAR MY NAME'
The party now hold 28 of 60 seats after losing three seats to Labour and one each to the Greens and the Lib Dems.
But in a chink of hope the Tories won one seat from Labour.
Ms Onasanya, who was elected as a Labour MP in 2017, served 28 days in prison for lying about a speeding offence.
She wrote on Twitter that she “will not be seeking to stand in the by-election”.
“To those who sent racially abusive, threatening, bullying, derogatory and vulgar remarks... I will clear my name and I was willing and able to continue as long as constituents wished for me to do so,” she said.
“Therefore, in light of the recall result, I will not be seeking to stand in the by-election”.
She added that she wanted to “encourage every person seeking to be the change they wish to see by saying this: You can do it - the sky is not the limit when there are footsteps on the moon!”
She then posted a link to a local newspaper article with the headline Fiona Onasanya’s time as Peterborough MP in pictures.
'VERY DISAPPOINTING'
The Conservatives lost Peterborough City Council to no overall control in Thursday’s elections after three years in charge of the consistently marginal authority.
The Tories now hold 28 of 60 seats on the council after the party lost three seats to Labour and one each to the Green Party and Lib Dems, but also gained one seat from Labour.
John Holdich, the council’s Conservative leader, said: “The Onasanya affair had a reflection on it because the electorate were saying they weren’t going to vote at all.”
He said that it was “very disappointing” to lose control but “on the face of it the electorate of Peterborough said they weren’t going to vote but they did and I’m very pleased about that”.
He added: “The other thing was the situation in Europe and I think that’s reflected in all parties apart from the Lib Dems in Peterborough.
“And if you look at history, when a Government’s in power you lose seats.”
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He noted that in some wards the Conservative vote went up, adding: “You must say the Conservatives have a chance of winning the by-election.”
Ukip lost the only seat it held on the council to the Lib Dems.
Labour remain the second largest group on the council with 17 seats, followed by the Lib Dems with nine.
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