Jared O’Mara has “postponed” his resignation as an MP and is free to take part in this week’s crunch Brexit votes.
It is understood that the Sheffield Hallam MP sent his resignation letter to the chancellor, Sajid Javid, under the usual procedure during the summer parliamentary recess.
But he then wrote to Javid for a second time asking him to “postpone” his appointment as the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds – the procedural device that allows MPs to quit the Commons.
Because both letters were sent when parliament was not sitting, it means O’Mara can remain an MP and take part in this week’s crucial and knife-edge Commons votes, which could bring about a general election, or Brexit on October 31 with or without a deal, depending on the outcome.
The 37 year-old did not reply to HuffPost UK’s requests for comment.
O’Mara has been embroiled in controversy since he defeated former deputy PM Nick Clegg to win the Sheffield Hallam seat in 2017.
He was suspended from Labour the same year over a series of sexist and offensive comments he had previously made.
He later resigned from the party but continued to serve as an independent.
The MP said earlier this year that he would resign in September, which will spark a by-election in the constituency.
And last month he was arrested on suspicion of fraud alongside his office manager, Gareth Arnold, according to multiple reports.
Both were released under investigation, according to the BBC.
The Mirror reported that Arnold had contacted police in July over concerns about parliamentary expense claims made by O’Mara.
It was reported that police raided the MP’s office and removed documents and computers for investigation.
The Steward and Bailiffs of the Chiltern Hundreds and of the Manor of Northstead were positions traditionally paid for by the Crown, according to the parliament website.
In modern times they are unpaid, formal titles that are applied for when an MP needs to quit the Commons because an elected MP has no right to resign.
But taking one of these titles, appointed by the chancellor, immediately bars them from being an MP.