Losing Tory candidate still ‘parading around as an MP’

Clarke-Smith dismissed the complaint as “a bit of a whinge… No-one is pretending to be an MP”.

“It’s an empty office which has got a sign up still and I think the thing she doesn’t like is its got a big picture of my face on it, which is very visible as you drive into town,” he said.

“When someone moves in there and it becomes a cafe or whatever, they will rip that off – I don’t think I’m authorised to.

“I think she just expects me to disappear and politics doesn’t quite work like that.”

When asked about the posters attacking the Labour government in the window, he said: “Somebody has probably left that in there.”

He said his office had formerly been a clothing shop that had been empty for about a decade, still with the original sign reading the Schoolwear Centre above the door when he moved in.

“Ironically, Jo White was the deputy leader of the council and responsible for regeneration for many years,” he added.

Clarke-Smith said MPs no longer had to clear out their offices and take down signs during elections because “it was costing huge amounts of money”.

Following every election there is a four-month period where former MPs move out of offices, make staff redundant and pay final bills, known as “wash-up” and Clarke-Smith said “I think most MPs have only just closed their offices”.

He also criticised White for using her time in the Commons to complain about him, saying there were many other more important local issues, including flooding and the new Accident and Emergency department.

The pair also clashed during the last election, when Clarke-Smith reported White to the Standards Commissioner for an offer of visits to Parliament, although the complaint was not upheld.

The House of Commons and Standards Commissioner were approached for comment.