David Warburton: Ex-MP says Me Too's influence too strong

A former Conservative MP who resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct has claimed the Me Too movement's "pendulum has swung too far".

David Warburton stood down as the MP for Somerton and Frome in Somerset on 17 June after admitting taking cocaine.

After resigning, he took aim at the current state of the Me Too campaign.

Speaking to BBC Politics West, he said he wanted the pendulum to "swing back" to a "fair place".

The Me Too movement seeks to end violence against women and shot into mainstream consciousness in 2017 after film producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of numerous sexual offences.

"The Me Too movement came about for a good reason," said Mr Warburton.

"But, like many of these things, that pendulum can swing too far and I think in my case, I think it maybe, it's a demonstration that it has swung too far," he added.

That led to his suspension from the Conservative Party in April last year.

He denies the allegations of sexual misconduct but has admitted to taking cocaine and has voiced his regret at these "very bad choices".

"I have never done before and never will do again and for that I paid a very high price.

"I absolutely behaved ludicrously, stupidly and I couldn't regret it more," he has previously said.

Addressing the Me Too movement, Mr Warburton said: "It wasn't in a fair place years ago and now it's in another unfair place.

"I think we need to be balanced and fair about all of these things.

"You can't suddenly decide that everybody's guilty because it's better than deciding that noone's guilty.

"You have to look at facts and figures and reality."

He said that like with court cases, evidence would be provided and looked at so if true, that person would "quite rightly go down".

Quizzed on whether he would follow in the footsteps of former health secretary Matt Hancock and go on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, he said: "We'll see what happens. I'll look at any opportunity."

The former MP has also not entirely dismissed a return to politics.

Mr Warburton claimed that the allegations - which also included his failure to disclose to Parliament a £150,000 loan from a Russian-born businessman - were prompted by a "campaign against me".

He was allowed to avoid sanctions by apologising and adding the loan to his register of financial interests.