Imran Ahmad Khan has said he will resign as MP for Wakefield after he was thrown out of the Conservative Party when he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

In a statement posted to Twitter, he said: “While legal proceedings are ongoing, I do not believe that it would ordinarily be appropriate to resign.

“However, owing to long delays in the legal process, my constituents have already been without visible parliamentary representation for a year. Even in the best case scenario, anticipated legal proceedings could last many more months.

“I have therefore regrettably come to the conclusion that it is intolerable for constituents to go years without an MP who can amplify their voices in Parliament.

“Representing them has been the honour of my life, and they deserve better than this.

“Consequently I am resigning as MP for Wakefield and withdrawing from political life.”

Mr Khan added: “I shall shortly write to the Parliamentary authorities to confirm this.

“I am now able to focus entirely on clearing my name. As I intend for this to be my only statement, I would like to apologise to my family and community for the humiliation this has caused them.

“Questions surrounding sexuality in my community are not trivial, and learning from the press about my orientation, drinking, and past behaviour before I became an MP has not been easy.”

Boris Johnson faces a potentially challenging by-election in Wakefield following the resignation.

Labour had held the seat since the 1930s until Mr Khan’s victory in the 2019 general election, when the Prime Minister led the Conservatives to seize a tranche of former Labour strongholds.

Mr Khan had won Wakefield by 3,358 over Labour former frontbencher Mary Creagh.