Ex-Reform MP James McMurdock should trigger a by-election after being accused of receiving a salary from an international bank while claiming two Covid loans worth £70,000, Lee Anderson has suggested.
McMurdock, 39, who stripped himself of the Reform whip before formally vowing not to return to the party, is accused of using two firms to obtain Covid-related funds in 2020.
One firm was previously dormant and the other had negligible assets, The Sunday Times has revealed.
The South Basildon & East Thurrock MP, who won his seat by just 98 votes, remains under investigation by the parliamentary commissioner for standards and was separately referred to the Public Sector Fraud Authority by the Covid corruption commissioner last week.
James McMurdock delivering a speech at Reform UK's annual conference last year
GETTY
Reform UK Chief Whip Lee Anderson is now calling on McMurdock to resign his seat and force a by-election.
The Ashfield MP said he had compiled a list of questions for McMurdock about his "historic business practices" so that he could "put his case forward", allowing the party to "respond with accuracy and confidence".
Anderson added: "McMurdock has failed to respond to the questions raised and therefore Reform UK feel that [he] does not meet the required standard to remain as an MP."
However, if McMurdock refuses to give up his seat, a by-election can only be forced in the three scenarios that prompt a recall petition: being convicted of an offence and receiving a custodial sentence, being convicted of expenses fraud, or being suspended from the House of Commons for 10 sitting days.
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Reform UK Chief Whip Lee Anderson
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Reform UK secured victory in the first by-election held since last year’s nationwide poll, beating Labour in the once-safe seat of Runcorn & Helsby by just six votes.
GB News last week revealed that Reform UK is already preparing for at least two possible Westminster by-elections.
The allegations against McMurdock, a father-of-four, centre around JAM Financial Ltd supposedly receiving £50,000 and another firm allegedly pocketing £20,000.
McMurdock has not commented on the claims that it was a Bounce Back loan.
Reform UK MP James McMurdock with Nigel FaragePAHowever, The Sunday Times reports that JAM Financial was a personal service company used by McMurdock to receive earnings from the international bank Standard Chartered.
He created it days before starting his role as a "senior associate" within the bank's corporate lending business in November 2016.
McMurdock was said to have been paid via the company for three years, giving him the assumed status of a contractor.
Sources have claimed that the bank placed him on its payroll in 2020 due to tax changes, meaning McMurdock was likely paid directly by the bank thereafter.
'I have decided to continue my parliamentary career as an independent MP,' McMurdock saidHOUSE OF COMMONSThe change in status is likely to have meant JAM Financial received less money in 2020 for reasons that had nothing to do with Covid.
The application form for Bounce Back loans stated: "Has your business been adversely impacted by Covid-19? If you answer no to this question, your business is not eligible for a Bounce Back Loan."
It also asked applicants to confirm that at least half of the business's income was derived from its "trading activity".
However, McMurdock, who stood in South Basildon & East Thurrock as a "paper candidate" last year, continued to work at Standard Chartered until his election last year.
The 39-year-old received a final payment of £2,136 on July 8, four days after the result, his register of interests has revealed.
Reform UK won just five MPs in July 2024 despite scooping over four million votes
PAMcMurdock has repeatedly refused to be drawn on the allegations, instead insisting that it would "obviously be inappropriate for me to comment further" because the matter is "now in the hands of the relevant authorities".
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage last week admitted that Reform had conducted "no due diligence at all" on McMurdock months after it emerged that the 39-year-old was convicted of assaulting an ex-girlfriend in 2006.
Farage also stressed that he could not apologise for the fact that "zero" checks were made on McMurdock because it predated his return as Reform UK leader.
Reform UK is now down to four MPs, having already removed Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe earlier this year.
McMurdock was spotted sitting alongside Lowe in the House of Commons on Wednesday.