Former Conservative MP Neil Parish has officially stepped down as an MP.

The Treasury said in a statement: “The Chancellor of the Exchequer has this day appointed Neil Quentin Gordon Parish to be Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.”

This is the formal process by which MPs are permitted to resign prior to an election.

The now-ex MP for Tiverton and Honiton, had the Conservative whip suspended last month after several female MPs accused him of viewing pornography on his mobile phone in the Commons chamber.

Parish was first elected as Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton in 2010 being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 24,439.

A by-election will now take place in the seat.

Found in the south east corner of Devon, the Conservatives won the seat at the last election with a majority of over 24,000. However on the back of their 2021 by-election successes in previously ultra safe North Shropshire and Chesham and Amersham, the Liberal Democrats will fancy their chances in the impending contest.

In the late 1990s, the Lib Dems had polled quite well in this part of Devon, coming within 1,600 votes of winning the seat in 1997.

Tiverton and Honiton includes the towns of Tiverton, Axminster, Seaton, Honiton, and Cullomtpon.

The farmland in this seat is criss- crossed with rivers and includes part of the Blackdown Hills. It is an economically active area where unemployment is half that of the national average.

Parish served as Chair of the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee from 2015 to the eruption of the scandal in April.