Patrick Mercer

Mercer was first elected to Parliament as the member for Newark at the 2001 general election, defeating the Labour incumbent, Fiona Jones, overturning a majority of 3,000 and creating a majority of just over 4,000. In the Commons, he initially served as a back-bencher on the Defence Select Committee before becoming Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Secretary of State for Defence. Mercer backed Iain Duncan Smith over Kenneth Clarke in the 2001 Conservative leadership election. Subsequently, he was appointed to a newly created post of Shadow Minister for Homeland Security in June 2003 after Duncan Smith became Conservative leader.

In 2004 he introduced a Private Member's Bill in response to the publicity surrounding the case of Tony Martin that proposed to give householders greater powers when protecting their property from burglary.[21]

Mercer increased his majority in Newark to 6,464 at the 2005 general election.[22]

During the Conservative leadership contest which followed the 2005 election, Mercer publicly backed David Davis over David Cameron, Kenneth Clarke, and Liam Fox.[23]

Since 2005, he has repeatedly warned against the imposition of control orders as being 'counter productive'. Citing his experience of internment in Northern Ireland, as a serving soldier, he highlighted the danger of alienating populations needed for intelligence gathering.[24]

In March 2007, Mercer gave an interview to The Times in which he talked about "idle and useless" ethnic minority soldiers who had used racism as a "cover" and admitted that black soldiers in his regiment had been referred to as "black bastard" and "nigger".[3] Initially, the Conservative Party stated that the comments were a "private matter",[25] but soon David Cameron forced Mercer to resign as Shadow Minister for Homeland Security.[3] Mercer publicly apologised and said "I had the privilege to command soldiers from across the east Midlands, of whom many came from racial minorities. It was a matter of great pride to me that racial minorities prospered inside the unit. What I have said is clearly misjudged and I can only apologise if I have embarrassed in any way those fine men whom I commanded. I have no hesitation in resigning my front-bench appointment."[26] A black former corporal who had served with Mercer came to his defence, and the chairwoman of his Conservative Association said she was "extremely angry" that Mercer's comments had been taken out of context.[27][3]

In December 2008, Mercer was appointed as Chairman of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Counter-Terrorism, to further his work as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee.

In March 2009 Mercer volunteered for three days at a charity named Save the Family, learning and helping displaced families as part of a programme devised by Iain Duncan Smith.[28]

At the 2010 general election, Mercer more than doubled his majority to 16,152, to make Newark one of the safest Conservative seats in the country. In August 2010, based on intelligence from serving army officers, he warned that dissident Irish terror groups could be planning to attack the party conferences, including the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.[29]

In May 2011, Mercer was appointed with Lord Ashcroft to review the future of the military bases in Cyprus.[30]

In August 2011, Mercer with his knowledge of Northern Ireland, led the calls for considering the use of water cannon and other robust police tactics to deal with the rioters during the 2011 England riots.[31] The next day David Cameron approved the use of water cannon after chairing a session of the Cabinet Office Briefing Room, Cobra.[32]

In October 2011, Mercer supported a failed bid by the Everyday Champions Church to open a free school in his constituency.[33] The bid was rejected because of concerns over the church's explicitly creationist stance.[34]

In November 2011, the press reported that Mercer had been taped making disparaging remarks about David Cameron, calling him "despicable" and describing him as an "arse" and "the worst politician in British history since William Gladstone". The same articles claimed he had predicted that Cameron would be ousted by Conservative MPs in early 2012. Mercer later denied making the comments.[35][36]

Mercer resigned the Conservative Party whip on 31 May 2013 after an investigation by the Daily Telegraph and BBC's Panorama caught him on camera accepting payment for lobbying.[37]

In June 2013, less than two weeks after Mercer had resigned the party whip, it was reported that in talking to an undercover reporter he had described a meeting with a young Israeli woman who said she was a soldier.[38] He told the reporter he had thought to himself "You don't look like a soldier to me. You look like a bloody Jew".[38] He then spoke to Jewish News and apologised unreservedly for any offence he had caused to the Jewish community by his "stupid remark".[39]

On 29 April 2014, after seeing a Commons Select Committee on Standards report into his conduct, due to be published on 1 May, calling for him to be barred from Parliament for six months, Mercer announced he would resign his seat.[40] He was appointed to the Chiltern Hundreds the next day, making his resignation effective.[41]

The Commons Standards Committee report on Mercer stated that its members were "not aware of a case relating to a sitting MP which has involved such a sustained and pervasive breach of the house's rules on registration, declaration and paid advocacy."[42] It stated that Mercer "had deliberately evaded the rules", including engaging in "paid advocacy" and failing to make "any serious attempt to identify his ultimate clients". He had also failed to register monies received properly; to deposit the contract he signed to provide services; and to declare a relevant interest when tabling parliamentary questions, tabling an early-day motion, making approaches to other MPs, and when speaking at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group. Mercer was also criticised for "repeatedly denigrating fellow Members both individually and collectively".[43]

The recommended period of suspension from the House of Commons was the second longest suspension since 1947. (Denis MacShane, later convicted of a criminal offence, was suspended for twelve months in 2012, and also resigned immediately as an MP.) One member voted to expel Mercer as an MP, and another wanted him suspended for eight months.[43]

A by-election for the vacant Newark seat was held on 5 June 2014.[44]