Inside life of Tory MP accused of rape - from famous niece to views on drugs
Conservative MP Crispin Blunt was this week arrested over an allegation of rape and possession of drugs.
He took the rare step to identify himself after reports about a Tory MP being arrested were reported. Mr Blunt confirmed he was arrested on Wednesday “in connection with an allegation of rape” and interviewed under caution the following morning.
The veteran Conservative politician, who has held his seat since 1997, has had the Tory whip suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation. He has been asked to stay away from the parliamentary estate. The Tory MP said the arrest was "unnecessary" and said he was “confident” the investigation “will end without charge". Surrey Police confirmed he has been released on "conditional police bail pending further enquiries".
Crispin Blunt is the uncle of award-winning actress Emily Blunt (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Education Secretary Gillian Keegan insisted there is no wider "cultural issue" within the Conservatives, after Mr Blunt was arrested. Two former Tory MPs have been convicted of sexual assault, while another sitting Conservative MP, who cannot be named, was arrested in May 2022 on suspicion of indecent assault, sexual assault and rape. He has not been charged.
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Allegedly slapped another MP in Parliament
Mr Blunt was accused of slapping fellow MP Andrew Bridgen on the back of the head and calling him a "b*****d" in Parliament a fortnight ago. Mr Bridgen, who joined the Reclaim Party after being kicked out of the Conservatives, reported Mr Blunt to parliamentary authorities and demanded he apologise.
Asked about reports that he had slapped Mr Bridgen round the head and sworn at him, Mr Blunt told the BBC it was "not correct" and that he had "spoken briefly" to Mr Bridgen in the Chamber to "try and understand what he thought happened that led to his report".
Mr Bridgen, who joined the Reclaim Party after being kicked out of the Conservatives for comparing Covid vaccines to the Holocaust, said the alleged slap was "completely unprovoked". But it came after Mr Bridgen did a newspaper interview in which he questioned why he has had the whip removed by the Tories but Mr Blunt had not over comments he made about Hamas in 2021. He faced calls to lose the whip at the time.
MP for more than 25 years
Mr Blunt became an MP in 1997, meaning he has been an elected member for 26 years. He has been elected to the constituency of Reigate, in Surrey, seven times in total. He holds a large majority of 18,310.
Between 2010 and 2012, he held the role of Minister of Prisons in the Ministry of Justice. During the Labour years of Government, he held several opposition roles including Shadow Home Affairs Minister and Shadow Trade Minister. Between 2015 and 2017, he held the prominent role of the Chair of the Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee.
The ex-Minister last year announced he would stand down at the next general election, which is expected next year. In a statement posted on his website, he said that after “seven increasingly tumultuous parliaments, this will be my last”. Before becoming an MP, Mr Blunt served in the armed forces for 11 years.
Defended a sex offender
Mr Blunt was forced to apologise last year after defending fellow MP Imran Ahmad Khan, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. Khan, the former MP for Wakefield, was last year sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Mr Blunt had called the verdict a "dreadful miscarriage of justice" but he deleted the message after senior Conservatives said it was "wholly unacceptable". He said: "I am sorry that my defence of him has been a cause of significant upset and concern not least to victims of sexual offences."
He also resigned as chair of a cross-party committee of MPs that campaigns for global LGBT+ rights. In a statement at the time, the group said: "Regardless of whether comments have now been retracted, Crispin Blunt's statement of yesterday [Monday] was inappropriate, misjudged and in the present circumstances we do not feel it is appropriate for Crispin to remain one of our patrons."
Liberal drugs views
Mr Blunt has long been a leading voice on drug reform. He is chair of the all-party parliamentary group for drug policy reform, which describes its aim as to "enable debate about evidence-based drug policy reform that promotes the overall public good".
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He has called for cannabis to be legalised, writing in an article for Conservative Home last year: "The law as it stands has the unintended consequence that many thousands of people seeking cannabis for medical use have little choice but to acquire it illegally. A legal route for these people to acquire medical cannabis would mean a safer, more medically appropriate product and, what is more, it would take power and income away from the vile criminal gangs who prey on our young people."
In 2016 Mr Blunt confessed he uses poppers in a desperate bid to stop them being made illegal. MPs heard the chemicals are sniffed to gain a brief headrush and could be "beneficial" for sex between gay men. Mr Blunt, who came out as gay and left his wife in 2010, told the Commons: "There are some times when something is proposed which becomes personal to you and you realise the government is about to do something fantastically stupid."
Family and relationships
Mr Blunt is the uncle of award-winning actress Emily Blunt, who was ranked in the top 10 highest-paid actresses in the world in 2020 by Forbes. She is well-known from the Devil Wears Prada, to Into the Woods. More recently, she starred in The Girl on the Train, A Quiet Place and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer.
The MP married married Victoria Jenkins in September 1990 and they have a daughter and son. In 2010, he announced that he was leaving his wife in order "to come to terms with his homosexuality". He released a statement after what friends called "30-year journey" in which he had to "wrestle with his sexuality".
Mr Blunt had previously opposed landmark gay rights laws, including gay adoption and the reduction of the gay age of consent to 16. He later became a champion for LGBT+ rights.
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