Lords Conduct Committee publish report into conduct of Lord Nazir Ahmed

Lord Ahmed resigned from the House of Lords on 14 November but the report, which was agreed by the Committee and seen by Lord Ahmed before that date, recommends that he should have been expelled.

Following an appeal by Lord Ahmed, the Committee upheld the findings of the independent House of Lords Commissioner for Standards that Lord Ahmed breached the Code of Conduct by failing to act on his personal honour in the discharge of his parliamentary activities by agreeing to use his position as a member of the House to help the complainant but then:

• Sexually assaulting the complainant on 2 March 2017.
• Lying to the complainant about his intentions to help her with a complaint to the Metropolitan Police regarding exploitation by a faith healer.
• Exploiting the complainant emotionally and sexually despite knowing she was vulnerable.

The Commissioner also found that Lord Ahmed failed to genuinely co-operate with her investigation as required by the Code of Conduct and instead attempted to discredit the complainant’s evidence through ‘denial and dishonesty’. The Committee noted that at no point in the process did Lord Ahmed show any remorse or take any responsibility for any aspect of his conduct towards the complainant.

The Conduct Committee, which is Chaired by former Supreme Court justice Lord Mance and includes 4 external members, dismissed Lord Ahmed’s appeal against both the finding of breaches of the Code of Conduct and the recommended sanction of expulsion from the House.

This is the first time the Committee has recommended the expulsion of a Member.

The report will now have to be put to the House for approval by the House on 19 November. In line with new Standing Orders for reports of this nature, the report will not be debated.