UK Newspapers are reporting that the outgoing Labour Metro Mayor Dan Norris who is also the MP for North East Somerset and Hanham, was been arrested on suspicion of rape and child sex offences on April 4.
In December 2024, we received a referral from another police force relating to alleged non-recent child sex offences having been committed against a girl. Most of the offences are alleged to have occurred in the 2000s, but we’re also investigating an alleged offence of rape from the 2020s.
“The victim is being supported and given access to any specialist help or support she needs. A man, aged in his 60s, was arrested on April 4 on suspicion of sexual offences against a girl, rape, child abduction and misconduct in a public office and has been released on conditional bail for enquiries to continue.
Norris, aged 65, was immediately suspended from the Labour Party after his arrest but remains an MP, but has been banned from entering both Parliament and the offices of the West of England Combined Authority during the course of the police investigation and it is widely expected that there will be an election
New parliamentary rules mean a risk assessment is carried out when an MP is arrested on suspicion of a violent or sexual offence, which leads to a ban from entering its buildings. A House of Commons spokesperson said: “We do not comment on individual cases.” Norris remains officially the West of England Mayor until May 1, when a successor will be elected. He was already standing down because of a Labour Party ban on MPs having second jobs.
It is likely that there may be a by-election in due course.