Imran Ahmad Khan

In the 2019 general election, Ahmad Khan defeated the incumbent Labour MP, Mary Creagh, to become the first Conservative MP for the constituency in 89 years.[18] Wakefield voted almost 2-to-1 in favour of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum and was a target seat for the Conservatives.[17] He was selected after the withdrawal of a candidate whose racist and sexist social media posts were uncovered.[19] Labour's Creagh said: "Will the next candidate they parachute in be any better? Don’t hold your breath." Ahmad Khan responded by taking part in a skydive[20] over the town and retorted he was "a local lad born and bred in Wakefield, of Wakefield stock. I couldn't figuratively parachute in—and I didn't want to disappoint her—so I decided I would literally parachute in."[20]

In his maiden speech in January 2020, Ahmad Khan spoke of being part of "a vibrant and dynamic pack of Yorkshire MPs". He called for equality of opportunity to be made real, and for more patriotism: "I see perhaps more clearly than most the deep and enduring importance of core British values such as compassion, tolerance and fairness, especially at a time when those values are perceived as under threat in many parts of our world."[21]

Khan was part of a panel advising on grooming gangs and contributed to a paper called, “Group-based child sexual exploitation characteristics of offending”. while police were investigating him for child sexual abuse. Responding to the disclosures, Labour's shadow cabinet minister, Louise Haigh said, “Khan’s victim told the Conservatives about sickening sexual abuse, and they did nothing, and then shamefully appointed him to sit alongside survivors of child sexual exploitation. (...) The Tories have serious questions to answer over how they gave this man free rein to exploit his position and victims of abuse. Boris Johnson and Priti Patel need to come clean about what the Conservative party knew and how they could possibly have put victims in this horrifying position in the first place.”[22] The Home Office confirmed Khan was on this advisory panel.[23] Sammy Woodhouse was targeted, groomed and abused aged 14 and took part in a review with Khan she said, “This was important work that I undertook in good faith, but I am disgusted to have been put in a position where I was working with a man later convicted for child sexual assault. Knowing now that the Conservatives had already received complaints from a victim about this man, it is gut-wrenching for me as a survivor that they could possibly have allowed him to be considered for this role.”[24][25]

Ahmad Khan organised a shipment of 110,000 reusable face masks through connections with the charity Solidarités international and the Vietnamese Government. Most of the masks were for the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust's Pontefract, Pinderfields and Dewsbury and District Hospitals and 10,000 were distributed by the trust to local care homes and hospices.[9][26] He launched 'Wakefield Together' to co-ordinate local efforts to tackle difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.[26]

Ahmad Khan helped secure £2.9 million for Wakefield's art hubs, including Theatre Royal Wakefield, the Creative Art House, and the West Yorkshire Theatre Dance Centre, via the Culture Recovery Fund.[27]

Following a conviction for sexual assault Ahmad Khan announced on 14 April 2022 that he would be resigning as an MP.[8] On 28 April 2022 he announced he had tendered his letter of resignation, which will become effective from the end of April.[28] This caused controversy, as he would receive the entirety of his April salary upon his resignation.[28] His planned resignation would not occur on the scheduled date either.[29]

His resignation was effected on 3 May 2022 following his appointment to the Chiltern Hundreds.[30][5]

Ahmad Khan supported Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. In an interview with Channel 4 he attributed his success in the 2019 general election to "Islington Remainers" who branded Leave voters "stupid, uneducated, racist or wrong".[31] He has stated that he decided to stand in the election because he came to believe British democracy was "under threat".[11]

In September 2020, in a debate about the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill, Ahmad Khan declared: "I am an ardent supporter of Brexit and look forward eagerly to the opportunity to bolster the United Kingdom's position by becoming an independent, self-governing nation, possessed of the confidence that flows from our vision and principled values". In his speech, he went on to explain his concerns over the Internal Market Bill before backing the legislation.[32]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Ahmad Khan was among the signatories of a letter to The Telegraph from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke agenda'".[33]

Ahmad Khan supports the Yorkshire Devolution Movement and called for the devolved West Yorkshire authority to be based in Wakefield. In Rishi Sunak's 2020 budget, West Yorkshire was allocated £1.8 billion, with a £317-million investment in transport and the election of a mayor of West Yorkshire, a position that in addition to budgetary control would assume the powers of the West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner.[34]

In June 2021, it was reported that Ahmad Khan had been charged on suspicion of a historical sexual offence of groping a 15-year-old boy, in Staffordshire, in 2008. In a statement, Ahmad Khan said he denied the accusation "in the strongest terms".[7] In response to the charge, the Conservative Party suspended the whip pending the outcome of the prosecution.[42][43] Ahmad Khan had attempted to have the case heard in secrecy, arguing that as a serving MP there were concerns about his safety and that to name him in court would breach his human rights. He also attempted to have the age of his victim withheld. However, his applications were rejected by Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate, Paul Goldspring, who said: "Damage to reputation is not a ground for making of an order, open justice is and should remain a cornerstone of democracy and the rule of law."[44]

Ahmad Khan tried again to have the case heard anonymously on the first day of the trial on the grounds that as an Ahmadi Muslim, both the consumption of alcohol and homosexual acts are strictly prohibited, and the reporting of those matters would expose him to "a risk to his safety both here and abroad".[44]

On 10 September 2021, he pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey.[45] Ahmad Khan's trial started on 29 March 2022. He was accused of feeling a 15-year-old boy's legs and reaching for his groin. Ahmad Khan denied that any sexual assault happened.[46] The complainant called police after Ahmad Khan was elected to Parliament. Jurors at the trial also heard evidence given by the complainant's older brother, who said the MP had asked if he was "a true Scotsman" and lifted his kilt, before "lunging" at him at the same party. Another witness at the trial described waking to find Ahmad Khan performing a sex act on him after a party in Pakistan in 2010 where the pair had drunk whisky and smoked marijuana.[44] On 11 April 2022, following a week-long trial at Southwark Crown Court, he was found guilty of sexually assaulting the 15-year-old boy, contrary to section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.[1][47]

The Conservative Party expelled Ahmad Khan from the party following the conviction.[48] His legal team said they would appeal against the conviction.[49] Conservative MP Crispin Blunt was criticised for his "disgraceful" comments on the conviction when he described it as a "dreadful miscarriage of justice" and "nothing short of an international scandal".[50][51] Blunt subsequently apologised and withdrew his comments.[52]

Ahmad Khan was subsequently accused of offering oral sex to a 16-year-old, at a birthday party in Suffolk, in 2015 and allegedly offering to take the youth to a hotel to use cocaine and hire a sex worker.[53]