Standards chief, Sir Chris Bryant, has lifted the lid on his personal parliamentary run-ins, including claiming he has been sexually assaulted by six MPs.
In a new tell-all autobiography titled Code of Conduct, the former curate muses on the parliamentary system, recounts scandal tales and offers a how-to guide on surviving SW1.
The former curate concedes that he has been a part of the conspiracy of silence that has permitted bad behaviour such as sexual harassment, by not speaking up earlier in his career.
Labour’s MP for Rhondda has now claimed five MPs touched him inappropriately, and another who still sits in the House had pushed him against a wall.
Sir Chris Bryant, Member of Parliament for Rhondda and Chair of the Commons Committee on Standards after being made a Knight Bachelor by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle, Berkshire on May 23, 2023.
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Bryant told the i: “Over the years five male MPs have felt my bottom uninvited.
“Another who is still in the House and still does not accept that he is gay, pushed me against a wall and felt my crotch.”
Bryant, 61, has previously told LBC: “I remember when I came in, in 2001, I was regularly touched up by older, senior gay - well, they weren't out but - MPs.
"I never felt I was able to report it because you end up being part of the story, and that’s the last thing you want.
Labour MP Chris Bryant outside the Houses of Parliament in London ahead of Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivering a statement in the House of Commons on his new Brexit deal after the EU Council summit, on what has been dubbed "Super Saturday".
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“And I think a lot of women have been through that."
Bryant added: “I can think of four MPs in division lobbies. I was shocked at the time and I bet you could guess who the four MPs are.”
In his new book, Bryant issues a confession: “I can be impulsive, sanctimonious and pompous… I know there are occasions when I have got my facts wrong, and the whirligig of politics has spun so fast I haven’t corrected the record.”
Bryant recently used parliamentary privilege to allege Farage received funds from the Kremlin.
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Chris Bryant, joint spokesman for the Committee on Restoration and Renewal of the Palace of Westminster, tours the Houses of Parliament to view the work that needs to be done to avoid the increasing risk of the buildings being ravaged by fire or swamped in a sewerage flood.
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In response to Bryant’s comments, Farage said: “The truth is, I did not receive a penny from any source with even a link to Russia.”
As chair of the Standards Committee, Bryant is “100 per cent” aware of the target on his back, telling the i of a thinly veiled threat from the Russian ambassador.
Bryain recollected: “He said: ‘We have a number of lists, not all of them are published.’”
In the event of a Labour electoral win, Bryant will leave his post as standards chief to make way for a new Conservative chair.
With eyes on the Labour frontbench, Bryant said: “I’d actually quite like to do the culture job, not least because it needs to be done well by someone who believes in it.
“One of the miseries of being in opposition is you spend all your time basically throwing snowballs. And God it gets boring.”
