
LABOUR is set to face a tough by-election challenge after disgraced MP Mike Amesbury bowed to the inevitable and announced that he will quit.
Mr Amesbury has been under pressure to leave the Commons after receiving a 10-week sentence, suspended on appeal, for punching a constituent.
He said this week that he would quit “at the earliest opportunity” as it became clear that he would otherwise face a recall petition under a procedure whereby 10 per cent of electors in the constituency can force a poll.

The Tory conference was a pseudo-sacred affair, with devotees paying homage in front of Thatcher’s old shrouds — and your reporter, initially barred, only need mention he’d once met her to gain access. But would she consider what was on offer a worthy legacy, asks ANDREW MURRAY