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Wales Online
Wales Online
Politics
Pat Hurst, PA & Will Hayward

Delyn MP Rob Roberts referred to watchdog after alleged Whatsapp messages to intern

A Conservative MP has been referred to Parliament's standards body over WhatsApp texts allegedly sent to a young female intern and a male worker at Parliament.

Rob Roberts, MP for Delyn, North Wales since 2019, has not yet responded to the allegations, which first surfaced last month on the Guido Fawkes website.

The intern was sent a string of messages by the 40-year-old MP, according to BBC Wales.

Mr Roberts' parliamentary office, constituency office, local Conservative Association and the Conservative Party HQ, have not responded to calls from the PA news agency.

The MP recently split from his wife and publicly came out as gay with a statement on Twitter on May 20.

Rob Roberts MP (UK Parliament)

Charlotte Nichols, Labour MP for Warrington North, tweeted: "I reported @RobDelyn via the third party reporting line over a month ago.

"I called on @Conservatives to remove the Whip and refer him over a month ago.

"This is totally unacceptable conduct for an MP. The @Conservatives should immediately remove the Whip from Bob Roberts, and refer him to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. No excuses."

A second allegation relates to allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a male member of Parliamentary staff.

In response, Mr Roberts told BBC Wales that earlier this year he invited a parliamentary staff member to dinner.

The MP said: "My invitation was not accepted and the staff member did not feel comfortable about it.

"I do now recognise that it was inappropriate to have extended the invitation to a member of staff in the first place.

"However, I have found the last few months and the 'coming out' process to have been particularly challenging and the cause of a great deal of mental stress to me.

"Creating a story from this interaction which has been dealt with amicably seems calculated to add to that stress, which is distressing."

A spokeswoman for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards said as per the rules MPs themselves had voted for, they could neither confirm nor deny whether an MP is under investigation.

A report into an investigation of harassment, bullying or sexual harassment, may be made public at a later date once the investigation is complete.

Rob Roberts has not responded to our requests for comment. 

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Our party takes all allegations extremely seriously and has safeguarding and complaints processes in place to investigate complaints made to it under the party's code of conduct."

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