MP resigns Conservative whip amid lobbying allegations Patrick Mercer, a one-time Tory frontbencher, has resigned the party whip and announced he will step down as an MP in 2015 amid allegations that he has reached parliamentary rules. Mr Mercer, a vociferous critic of the Cameron government, said in a statement that he was taking legal advice over allegations in a proposed BBC Panorama programme. He said he had referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and had meanwhile resigned the whip "to save my party embarrassment." "I have also decided not to stand at the next general election," he said. A Conservative spokesperson said that David Cameron, party leader and prime minister, was aware of the situation and thought that Mr Mercer had "done the right thing," adding: "It is important that the due processes take their course." The Daily Telegraph newspaper said that it had been investigating the former shadow minister over a "major lobbying scandal" and was poised to publish a series of news reports about Mr Mercer on Saturday. Speculation was growing in Westminster on Friday that there could be a difficult by-election for the Conservatives if the MP quit parliament. With the UK Independence party riding high in the polls, the Tories are braced for an erosion of support in the one-time safe seat of Newark in the East Midlands. Mr Mercer won in 2010 with 27,590 votes - equivalent to 54 per cent - against just 1,954 for Ukip. But Ukip performed much more strongly in local elections this month. "We're not party to what's going on but we feel pretty bullish about a by-election anywhere," a spokesman told the Financial Times. Mr Mercer has outside interests including working as a security consultant to a company called Olive Group for £18,000 a year. He is also a security consultant to Red Amber, an adviser to Premier Composites and has been paid for advising Clearwater Projects and Global Energy Private Limited. There is no suggestion that his resignation relates to any of these companies. The former army colonel was sacked from the Tory front bench in March 2008 after suggesting in an interview that being called a "black bastard" was a normal part of life in the armed forces. He added that he had met many "idle and useless" ethnic minority soldiers. After the formation of the coalition, he was recorded launching a tirade of abuse against Mr Cameron. He dismissed his party leader as a "despicable creature" and "the worst politician in British history since William Gladstone."