Eight female councillors have signed and circulated a letter to the residents of Wickford, which is soon to see a byelection, that claims that recently elected Reform MP for Basildon, James McMurdock, lied about his past.
This is in relation to the an instance of him assaulting his partner when he was younger. It’s impossible to deny entirely because he’s been convicted of it. But the councillors believe that he’s been misleading the public as to the severity of the attack.
In the letter, the councillors refer to Mr McMurdock’s election result for Basildon where he won his seat by 98 votes. The councillors claim that he “tried to downplay the attack – saying it was just a push,” but that court documents obtained by The Times indicate a different version of events. According to court documents obtained by the paper, McMurdock reportedly ‘kicked his girlfriend multiple times while she was on the ground and two bouncers intervened at the time.’
In their letter, it read: “This is about a man in public office who lied, covered up his past” later adding “we will not stand for this.”
This is not the first time he has shown reticence to be up front with the electorate about what his past actions. He neglected to even disclose his conviction before his 2024 election as an MP. Court documents showed that he received a sentence of 28 days, “not suspended in light of serious nature of the offence” – and when it came out he, once again, downplayed it as being a youthful “indiscretion”, telling a story that did not at all match the court’s findings.