The standards committee upheld the findings of Catherine Stone, the parliamentary standards commissioner, that Bridgen breached the code of conduct for MPs after he approached ministers and officials on behalf of a forestry company that had given him a donation, a visit to Ghana and the offer of a consultancy contract . Bridgen will not face a possible recall petition from his constituents, which is only triggered if MPs are suspended for 10 or more sitting days. The committee said that as well as an apology from the Commons, Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire since 2010, should apologize personally to Stone for a “totally unacceptable” attempt to pressure her. The report said Bridgen emailed Stone to ask about what the MP said were rumors that the commissioner would be co-opted by Boris Johnson, and that this was dependent on “getting the ‘right’ results” by conducting parliamentary inquiries into standards. Bridgen was a distinguished critic of Johnson. Stone’s initial investigation found Bridgen breached rules on registration of interests by failing to declare the trip, the donation from Mere Plantations and a consulting contract with the company, a role the MP said ended up unpaid. He also failed to mention these when he approached ministers on behalf of the company, he added. Stone said Bridgen had also breached the rules on paid advocacy, launching five approaches to ministers or officials “who sought to benefit the commonwealth” and a further eight emails to ministers. The standards committee upheld Stone’s findings, saying that if Bridgen had no plans to receive payments from the company he should have canceled or amended a contract with them that said he would be paid £12,000 a year. The committee’s report found the MP received three “registered benefits” in total – the contract for an advisory role, a trip to Ghana in August 2019 and a £5,000 donation to his local Conservative association. The panel strongly condemned Bridgen for emailing Stone shortly after referring her findings to MPs. Bridgen wrote: “I was saddened to hear on several occasions an unfounded rumor that your contract as Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is due to expire in the coming months and that there are advanced plans to offer you a peerage, possibly as soon as you start your ministerial resignation list.” “There is also some suggestion among colleagues that these plans are dependent on achieving the ‘right’ results in a parliamentary standards inquiry.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. While Bridgen said his email simply “sought reassurance”, the committee said it “appears to be an attempt to put completely inappropriate pressure on the Commissioner”, calling it “completely unacceptable behaviour”. So it said Bridgen breached another section of the MEPs’ code of conduct, in that she did not seek to influence the Commissioner. The committee, chaired by Labor MP Chris Bryant but which has a Tory majority among its MPs – it also has six lay members – found Bridgen broke the rules “on a number of occasions and in a number of ways” and showed “very cavalier attitude towards the rules of registration and declaration of interests”. In mitigation, he said Bridgen had been motivated by trying to help a constituency and by an interest in climate change and international development. In a statement, Bridgen said he was “extremely disappointed” with his recommended suspension, but said he accepted the panel’s findings. “While I am extremely disappointed with the committee’s recommendations, I accept them and will comply with them as necessary to do so.”