03 February 2024 , 19:17
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The Tories have selected the chief of staff to an ex-MP suspended over drugs allegations as a candidate in the next election.
Londoner James Hamblin said he was “absolutely thrilled” to be picked as a candidate in the Cardiff West constituency when he was selected by local Tories on Thursday. But before he applied for the job he worked for David Warburton, who quit Parliament in June while waiting for the outcome of a probe into allegations of harassment and drug use.
Mr Warburton was suspended in April 2022. But even a month after his suspension, Mr Hamblin posted apparently supportive tweets - including an article predicting Mr Warburton’s “comeback.”
Mr Hamblin’s Twitter account was made private on Thursday evening, after his selection was announced. Somerset and Frome MP was under investigation by Parliament’s harassment watchdog following complaints from two women about inappropriate behaviour.
And an image emerged showing the MP for Somerset and Frome sitting next to an upturned baking tray with four lines of powder on it - alleged by the Sunday Times to be cocaine. Mr Warburton admitted taking cocaine to the Mail on Sunday at the time, after drinking “incredibly potent” Japanese whisky.
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"I was set up, but I have been naive and incredibly stupid," he claimed. But he continues to deny the harassment claims. In his resignation letter, Mr Warburton said the “malicious allegations” and a “flawed” 14-month investigation “has inflicted unimaginable and intolerable destruction on my family and on me”.