Tory MP suspended after assault claims

A Conservative MP has been suspended from the party following his arrest last week on suspicion of assaulting his wife.

Andrew Pelling, MP for Croydon Central, now faces the threat of being deselected by his constituency association before the election. A Tory spokesman said the whip had been removed from Mr Pelling pending an investigation into the case. He won the seat from Labour in 2005, with a majority of only 75.

Mr Pelling was arrested last Tuesday after his second wife, Lucy, accused him of assault. He was released on bail the same night after being questioned. Mrs Pelling, who is seven weeks' pregnant, declared that their marriage was finished and that she had left the family home.

The 48-year-old MP married Lucy Slaytor, 26, last November after divorcing his first wife, Sanae Umeda Pelling, the mother of his three children. It was claimed they started their affair while Mr Pelling was still married and Lucy was working on his general election campaign.

Mr Pelling, who is also a London Assembly member, is due to return to a south London police station on 1 October.