New Labor MP Natalie Elphicke is accused of lobbying over her husband’s sexual assault case

Natalie Elphicke, the new Labor MP for Dover, has been accused of lobbying ministers over her husband Charlie’s sexual assault case.

Ms Elphicke is accused of asking Sir Robert Buckland, the then justice secretary, to help postpone the trial date, apparently to avoid publicity.

A spokesman for Ms Elphicke, who resigned from the Conservatives last week, said the claims were “nonsense”.

Labor asked why they had not been spoken to earlier.

Sir Robert told the Sunday Times: “She was told in no uncertain terms that it would have been completely inappropriate to even speak to the judge about the trial.”

The BBC has confirmed Sir Robert’s report with him.

Charlie Elphicke’s trial was due to be one of the first cases after Covid restrictions were lifted in court. He was later sentenced to two years in prison at Southwark Crown Court for sexually abusing two women.

Ms Elphicke and four other Conservative MPs were also found to have breached Parliament’s code of conduct by attempting to influence court proceedings.

They had written to senior members of the judiciary raising concerns that a junior judge was considering publishing the character references for Ms Elphicke’s husband.

At the time, Thangam Debbonaire, Labor’s shadow leader in the House of Commons, said the incident showed the Conservatives “believe it’s one rule for them and another for everyone else.”

Ms Elphicke surprised Westminster last week when she switched from the Conservatives to Labor.

She was seen as a representative of the Conservative Party – and her inclusion in the Labor Party was criticized by some.

She apologized Thursday after an interview resurfaced in which she said her ex-husband was “an easy target” for false accusations because he was “attractive.”

Responding to the latest allegations, a spokesperson for Natalie Elphicke said: “This is nonsense. It is certainly true that after his imprisonment Mr Elphicke continued to be supported by a large number of Conservative MPs who had known him for a long time, including some who had visited him and campaigned independently for him, which had nothing to do with Natalie had to do.

A Labor Party spokesman said: “Natalie Elphicke completely rejects this characterization of the meeting.”

“If Robert Buckland had any serious concerns about the meeting then he should have raised them at the time rather than making claims to the newspapers after Natalie decided to join the Labor Party.”