A Tory MP is facing bankruptcy proceedings from a petition over unpaid tax.
Court records show that HMRC has filed a petition for bankruptcy against Conservative MP Adam Afriyie, according to The Guardian.
Mr Afriyie, who was once regarded as a Tory rising star, has been embroiled in a dispute for several years over his "past business interests", his office confirmed.
Being subject to bankruptcy proceedings does not immediately force an MP to stand down under Parliament's rules.
But anyone who is made bankrupt and made subject to a bankruptcy restrictions order can be disqualified from election to and sitting in Parliament, potentially triggering a by-election.
These orders can be imposed if the person who is bankrupt refuses to cooperate or behaves fraudulently.
The Tories are already facing three by-elections, including in North Shropshire after shamed MP Owen Paterson quit following a lobbying row.
A potential fourth by-election could be on the cards in Leicester East in the wake of ex-Labour MP Claudia Webbe's harassment conviction.
She has launched a bid to overturn her sentence and the conviction, with her appeal due to be heard in March.
A spokesperson for Mr Afriyie said: " The petition arises for complex reasons related to Adam's past business interests.
"Negotiations have been ongoing for several years and the petition is subject to legal challenge as his advisers are working towards reaching an agreement."
Mr Afriyie said: "I will of course pay any tax that is due."
He was first reported to be facing potential bankrupcty proceedings before the 2019 general election.
Mr Afriyie set up IT firm Connect Support Services in 1993 but the firm went into insolvency in 2017.
Connect Support Services is reportedly the lead creditor in Mr Afriyie’s bankruptcy case.
It comes after the Sunday Mirror revealed in 2019 that Mr Afriyie's £4.5million mansion was being rented out for £1,950 a night on Airbnb.
Parliament's rules require MPs to declare property worth more than £100,000 or rental income of more than £10,000 a year.
At the time he said: “There’s no requirement to declare my private homes in the register of members interests, because I have never claimed Parliamentary expenses for them nor received rental income from them.”
He said that he would ask Parliament’s registrar for advice and update the register if he had made any mistakes.
Mr Afriyie then updated the register of interests in January 2020 to include an entry for "occasional income derived from short lets of my Windsor home and from using the grounds for events".
He said the income was paid to a family member.
