THE Labour Party says the decision of Bristol North East MP Damien Egan to cast a vote on behalf of an arrested colleague will not be repeated.
Mr Egan, whose constituency includes Staple Hill and Mangotsfield, cast a proxy vote for Dan Norris on a proposed law to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults in September.
The North East Somerset and Hanham MP was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences in April 2025. He was suspended from the party and has not voted in person or attended Parliament since.
Up until July of this year, Labour Party whips had been casting Mr Norris’s proxy vote in divisions where MPs were voting on party lines.
They stopped in July, after it emerged that Avon and Somerset police had submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider charges against him.
No charging decision had been made as the Voice went to print.
Mr Egan cast Mr Norris’s proxy in a ‘free vote’, where party whips do not order MPs how to vote according to agreed policy.
This means that when MPs request a proxy vote, which involves contacting an office in the House of Commons and a potential proxy, party whips are not involved in the process.
Both Mr Egan and Mr Norris supported the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which was voted down by 286 votes to 270.
Requests for a comment from Mr Egan were referred to the Labour Party. A party spokesperson said: “Mr Egan facilitated a proxy vote while he took part in this free vote in the House of Commons. No further such proxy votes will be facilitated.”
Police have never named Mr Norris in statements about the investigation, which relates to allegations of rape, sexual assault and voyeurism between the 2000s and 2020s.
Mr Norris, a former West of England Metro Mayor, has said he “vigorously and entirely” denies the allegations.
By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service