Lord Lester of Herne Hill has quit days before the House of Lords was due to vote on the issue of his suspension until June 2022 over allegations of sexually harassing women's rights campaigner Jasvinder Sanghera.
Lord Lester said that he was resigning “with immediate effect”.
His suspension had been proposed after he was found to have invited Mr Sanghera at his place and had allegedly said- “If you sleep with me, I will make you a baroness within a year!”
“This investigation has taken a serious toll on my health. I am sorry that this issue has caused so much upset to everyone involved and very much hope that the House of Lords will now take the long called-for step of reforming its procedures. I have always said that allegations of this kind should be properly investigated.” Lord Lester said.
The privileges and conduct committee's suspension recommendation came after a nine-month investigation by the commissioner found that Lord Lester had offered the complainant “corrupt inducements to become his mistress.”
Ms Sanghera had accused Lord Lester of questioning her credibility and challenging a procedure that he had strongly advocated in 2009 as lawful and fair.
“The decision to speak about sexual harassment and bullying against one of the most powerful and respected institutions has been one of the most difficult decisions I have ever had to make. This vindicates my complaint and the careful way it was handled by the commissioner,” said Ms. Sangheera.
