Dan Norris, the Member of Parliament for North East Somerset and Hanham, has not participated in any votes via proxy since police announced they had referred charges against him to the Crown Prosecution Service. Norris has been absent from Parliament since his arrest in April 2025 on suspicion of rape and other serious offenses.
Initially, despite his suspension from the Labour Party following the arrest, Norris voted through a proxy vote cast by the party whip. However, his proxy vote was last used on July 1, coinciding with Avon and Somerset Police informing the CPS about considering formal charges against him.
The police investigation involves multiple allegations, including rape of three women, sexual assault of another, and acts of voyeurism and upskirting targeting several women over a period spanning the 2000s to the 2020s. Norris has consistently denied all allegations, calling them “vigorously and entirely” untrue.
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Following his arrest, Norris was banned from entering Parliament under its risk-based exclusion policy, which applies to MPs arrested for violent or sexual offenses. Despite his absence, Norris has maintained some parliamentary duties, including handling constituent casework and submitting written questions to ministers on topics such as suspended driving licenses and proposals for geothermal energy development in the Somerset coalfield.
The proxy vote last cast on his behalf by government whip Sir Nicholas Dakin was used in a deferred division related to employment tribunal rules on July 1. Since then, no votes have been cast in Norris’s name, leaving North East Somerset and Hanham without representation in parliamentary votes.
Although this lack of voting might seem negligible given the Labour Party’s large majority in the House of Commons, concerns have been raised by constituents. A petition initiated in September 2025, now endorsed by over 4,000 people, calls for Norris to resign, highlighting that the ongoing situation undermines his ability to represent their interests effectively.
Currently, there is no mechanism for constituents to remove an MP unless specific conditions are met, such as a custodial sentence, conviction for parliamentary fraud, or a parliamentary suspension exceeding 10 days. Norris’s suspension from the party and risk-based exclusion do not trigger these recall provisions.
Dan Norris previously represented the area under its former constituency name, Wansdyke, from 1997 until his defeat by Jacob Rees-Mogg in 2010. He regained the seat in the 2024 election but was arrested less than a year later.