The Tory MP under investigation for allegedly groping two men said he is seeking “professional medical attention” and hopes to return to his duties “as soon as possible”.
Chris Pincher said on Saturday that he is “really sorry” and promised to cooperate fully with the investigation into his drunken behavior at a private members’ club in London.
The MP for Tamworth in Staffordshire resigned from his government role after allegations emerged and Boris Johnson bowed to pressure to remove the Conservative whip.
But the prime minister was faced with new questions about why he made him deputy head whip despite a slew of allegations, with Dominic Cummings claiming that Mr Johnson had jokingly called him “Pincher by name, pincher by nature.”
Now that he is independent, Mr Pincher is fighting to remain in the House of Commons, despite opponents saying his position is untenable.
In a statement, he said: “I respect the Prime Minister’s decision to suspend the whip while an investigation is underway, and I will fully cooperate with it.
“As I told the Prime Minister, I drank way too much on Wednesday night, embarrassed myself and others, and I am truly sorry for the upset I caused.
“The stress of the past few days, on top of that of the past few months, has made me accept that I will benefit from professional medical support.
“That’s what I’m looking for now and I hope to resume my duties in my constituency as soon as possible.”
Critics at Westminster are unlikely to be appeased by the statement of the man who resigned as deputy head whip when the first reports of his latest behavior emerged.
Neil Parish, the former Conservative MP who was pressured to resign from the House of Commons after watching porn in Parliament, has accused No. 10 of “double standards”.
Tory backbencher Andrew Bridgen echoed the sentiment, suggesting that Mr Pincher was treated differently for being an “arch-loyalist” to the Prime Minister.
He said allegations about Mr Pincher have “been floating around in Westminster for years” and suggested Downing Street would certainly have been aware of them.
Mr Cummings, the prime minister’s chief aide turned critic, accused Mr Johnson of “lying again” about his knowledge of Mr Pincher’s behavior before handing him the whipped job.
He said Mr Johnson referred to the MP “laughing in No. 10″ as ‘Pincher by name, pincher by nature’ long before appointing him” in February.
A spokesman for No. 10 previously acknowledged there were concerns about Mr Pincher before his appointment, but insisted that Mr Johnson was “not aware of any specific allegations”.
On Saturday, Downing Street did not deny Mr Cummings’ allegation, which, if true, suggests the prime minister may have known more than the spokesman acknowledged.
Mr Johnson had resisted calls to expel the MP from the party until the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) launched an investigation after receiving a formal complaint.
The prime minister spoke to several people on Friday, including a Tory MP who was with one of the men allegedly groped by Pincher, a Downing Street source said.
“The account given was disturbing enough to make the prime minister more troubled by all of this,” the source told the PA news agency.
A flurry of further claims were made against Mr Pincher, with The Times reporting that a young Tory activist received an unwelcome sexual advance last year.
In the absence of formal complaints, it was not appropriate to suspend an appointment on baseless allegations.
The activist said the MP put his hand on his knee and told him he would “go far in the party” at a Conservative conference event last year.
Mr Pincher’s lawyers told the newspaper he firmly denies the charge, reflecting a complaint that led to the MP’s first resignation in 2017 from the Whips’ Office.
Former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate Alex Story claimed Pincher touched him while making an unwanted pass and using similar language.
Mr Pincher was reinstated as a senior whip two months later by Theresa May after referring himself to both the police and the Conservative Party grievance procedure.
The latest allegations came after the Conservative Party was hit by a string of sexual misconduct scandals.
In May, Mr Parish stepped down as MP for Tiverton and Honiton after admitting to viewing pornography in the Commons chamber, while last month Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan was sentenced to 18 months in prison for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
In both cases, the Conservatives lost the subsequent midterm elections.
A third unnamed Conservative MP has been whipped to stay out of parliament after being arrested on suspicion of rape and other crimes.