Bournemouth MP Conor Burns has Conservative whip restored

The Conservative Party has concluded Mr Burns has no case to answer over a complaint that was made against him in early October.

Mr Burns, who was sacked from his role as a Government trade minister and had the whip removed at the time, said the past two months had been a “living nightmare” but he always knew there was no case to answer.

In a statement, a Conservative Party spokesperson said: “The party received a complaint and investigated in line with its code of conduct.

“After undertaking appropriate enquiries and reviewing all of the evidence available to establish the facts, the Party concluded that there was no basis on which to investigate further.

"The matter is now closed and Mr Burns's membership will be reinstated at the nearest possible opportunity.”

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Echo, Mr Burns said: “The last two months have been a living nightmare, not just for me, especially for my elderly parents, for my many friends and my wider family and all those who love and care for me.

“I knew that I would come out the other side of this and my name would be clear because there was nothing to what had happened.”

He added: “It took a toll. The people I want to pay tribute to most of all for their loyalty, their encouragement and their faith in me are my constituents in Bournemouth West.”

Discussing how challenging it had been, the former Northern Ireland minister said: “When you get to the point where your 80-year-old father is saying ‘when is this going to end’ and you spend your time reassuring everyone else you are fine when actually you are far from fine is very difficult.”

Mr Burns said he had felt anger at the process that had been carried out by the party, the former chief whip Wendy Morton and the former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

He added: “I knew I was innocent and the truth will out and it has.”

Conor Burns spoke exclusively to the Daily Echo after being informed there was no case to answer over a complaint made against him (Image: NQ)

While Mr Burns said the past two months had been one of the most difficult periods he had faced, he was clear that many members of the community dealt with much more profound challenges and he was committed to continuing to serve them as an MP.

He said he was caught in the “crossfire of the dying days” of Ms Truss’s government, with him being “thrown to the wolves”.

“I think this all had become more to do with nice things I had said about the trade secretary (Kemi Badenoch) than about being up late at the conference,” Mr Burns said.

Mr Burns said it was “completely unacceptable” for anyone to be “left in limbo” for so long without being provided details of what was being alleged.

After having the whip removed, the 50-year-old focused a lot of his time on hand delivering surveys to thousands of residents in his constituency, which he has represented since 2010.

“When it first happened and I decided that I would up the rate of survey delivery to give myself a focus and a goal every day I was nervous when I first went out to do it but I quickly realised the public sensed there was a lot more to it than what materialised,” Mr Burns said.

“The British people have a strong sense of right from wrong and something about this didn’t smell right to them,” he added.

“It felt and smelt like a stitch up and that it what it was.”

Mr Burns said he was committed to continuing as Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, including at the next election.