A veteran Newcastle MP has been suspended by the Labour Party, it has been confirmed.
Nick Brown, who represents Newcastle East and is one of the longest serving MPs in the House of Commons, is thought to have had the party whip suspended following a complaint.
The Chronicle understands that Mr Brown has been administratively suspended from membership of the Labour Party and had the whip suspended, pending an investigation. Details of the complaint against the former Labour chief whip have not been made public.
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Mr Brown has served as chief whip to every Labour leader from Tony Blair onwards, but left the post last year when he was replaced by Tynemouth MP Alan Campbell in a reshuffle from Sir Keir Starmer.
He was first elected as a Labour councillor in the East End ward of Walker in 1980, before being chosen to stand for Parliament three years later. The Kent-born MP and former minister has won seven elections in the Newcastle East seat, most recently in 2019 with a majority of more than 15,000.
Mr Brown said that he was unaware of the nature of the complaint against him and was “cooperating fully with the investigation”.
He said in a statement: “There has been a complaint made about me to the Labour party, which is under investigation. I am therefore under an administrative suspension from the Labour party until the investigation is concluded. I’m not aware of what the complaint is. I am cooperating fully with the investigation.”
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