Disgraced former Labour MP Mike Amesbury has admitted the fallout from being convicted over punching a man in the street left him feeling like he’d been ‘buried alive’.
Amesbury stepped down as MP for Runcorn and Helsby on March 17, weeks after admitting to drunkenly assaulting a constituent.
The 55-year-old was jailed on February 24 for 10 weeks after he pleaded guilty to assault by beating of 45-year-old Paul Fellows in Frodsham, Cheshire, on October 26.
Shocking CCTV of the attack, which showed Amesbury launching a sickening attack on his constituent, was first obtained by the Mail.
Amesbury later appealed the sentence which was suspended for two years, meaning he will not have to serve it in prison.
His resignation as an MP in March triggered a by-election in Runcorn and Helsby, which Reform UK won by just six votes, stealing the Labour seat after a dramatic recount.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 Today, Amesbury said: ‘I am really disappointed, obviously it has been a difficult few months myself. It has been like being buried alive. I am in a position through my own fault, my own mistakes.’
Asked if he felt guilty about the Reform’s successful local election results, he added: ‘The constituents of Durham, or up and down the country, didn’t vote how they did because of my mistake.
Amesbury stepped down as MP for Runcorn and Helsby on March 17, weeks after being convicted for punching a constituent
The 55-year-old was filmed on CCTV punching constituent Paul Fellows after the pair had a heated discussion by a taxi rank at 2am in Amesbury’s home town of Frodsham, Cheshire
‘I live that moment every day of my life and of course I regret that and if I could turn back the clock and change things in that evening and done the right things and walked away. But I didn’t, so I have paid a price and I learn from those mistakes.
‘Politically I want this government to succeed but if they carry on making political mistakes, winter fuel being an obvious one, but coming down the line is the Personal Independence Payments.
‘People on the backbenches now is the time to say you are not being disloyal, telling the leadership just think again if we are serious about having two terms of this Labour government and transforming this country for the better.
‘We have got to listen the the electorate and do the right thing.’
Amesbury said that he was not ‘surprised’ by the Runcorn result was ‘reflected unfortunately throughout the country’.
He added: ‘Reform have been the beneficiaries of some big political mistakes from the Labour Government and I sincerely hope Keir, the Labour Prime Minister, and the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, not only listen, but learn and respond.
After Amesbury successfully appealed his 10-week jail sentence – and before he stepped down as an MP – his victim Mr Fellows told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It’s outrageous. If it was anyone else, you or I, we would have lost our jobs, no question.’
‘I was surprised by the quickness of the appeal. I feel a charge of affray should have been brought rather than common assault, which the judge said in the appeal hearing.
‘I feel unheard. I don’t think justice has been served. If I saw Amesbury now, chances are I would ignore him.’
Amesbury later appealed the sentence which was suspended for two years, meaning he will not have to serve it in prison
Footage of the incident on October 26 last year provoked outrage. It showed Amesbury lashing out and continuing to hit Mr Fellows (pictured) until onlookers held him back
