Who is Mike Amesbury, the Runcorn MP who admitted assault over street punch?

Former Labour MP Mike Amesbury has admitted assault by beating after punching a man to the floor in a late-night dispute.

Amesbury was first elected to Parliament in 2017 to represent the Weaver Vale constituency in Cheshire, defeating Tory incumbent Graham Evans with 51.5% of the vote.

He served in a number of frontbench positions between 2018 and 2023 under the Starmer and Corbyn leaderships, including shadow employment minister and shadow housing minister.

In 2020, Amesbury introduced a private member’s bill to cut the cost of school uniforms which drew cross-party support and became law the following year.

The son of carpet fitter, he says his working class background helped shape his Labour politics, and has described himself as a left of centre trade unionist.

In 2023 a man was convicted of stalking Amesbury, including by loitering around his constituency office, staring through the glass and asking staff nearby about the level of security in the area.

Amesbury became the first MP for the new Runcorn and Helsby constituency as last year’s general election was fought with altered boundaries.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to assaulting 45-year-old Paul Fellows in Main Street, Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of October 26.

If Amesbury is given a suspended sentence or sent to prison at his sentencing on February 24 he could lose his seat in the Commons.

A sentence of less than a year, even if it is suspended, would leave him liable to the recall process, which would trigger a by-election if 10% of registered voters in the constituency sign a petition.

A jail term of more than a year would mean Amesbury automatically loses his seat.

Amesbury was suspended from the Labour Party after it emerged police were investigating the incident last year, and is currently an Independent MP.