Former Tory MP at the center of a storm found dead in London
David Warburton, the former Conservative MP for Somerton and Frome who resigned from Parliament in 2023 after a misconduct investigation and an admission of cocaine use, has been found dead in a London flat. Police are treating the death as unexpected but not suspicious. Formal identification and a post-mortem are expected to follow.
A Daily Mail article said to include comments from his wife that he was in hospital with severe shock and stress is not accessible to us, so we cannot verify those details. What we do know is that Warburton had spoken publicly about the strain of the process in earlier interviews, saying he felt "hounded" and denied that he harassed anyone.
Warburton first won Somerton and Frome in 2015, taking the Somerset seat from the Liberal Democrats and holding it through the 2017 and 2019 general elections. His political profile rose in a period when the Conservatives were strengthening their hold in rural seats, and he often presented himself as a constituency-first MP focused on local issues such as transport, planning, and farming concerns.
His career unraveled in 2022 after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced, prompting Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) to open a case. The Conservative Party suspended the whip, and Warburton moved to sit as an independent MP. Around the same time, he admitted to taking cocaine, framing it as a one-off mistake, and insisted the harassment claims were false.
After months under investigation, he resigned in June 2023, saying he had been denied a fair process and that the confidential nature of the ICGS left him unable to defend himself in public. His resignation triggered a by-election in Somerton and Frome, which the Liberal Democrats won, reversing the seat back to the party that had held it before 2015.
Police say there are no suspicious circumstances around his death, a phrase used when early checks do not point to third-party involvement. In such cases, a coroner will usually oversee next steps, including a post-mortem and an inquest if needed. Those processes can take weeks, sometimes longer, depending on the findings.
The Warburton case always had two tracks: what happened and how the system handled it. The ICGS was set up to take misconduct decisions out of party hands and enforce standards across Westminster. It is confidential by design to protect complainants and respondents, but that confidentiality and the length of cases often draw fire—especially from MPs who feel frozen out of their jobs while investigations drag on. Warburton made that argument in his resignation, saying the secrecy left him publicly branded but unable to push back in detail.
There is also a human side that rarely gets real attention until it is too late: the mental and physical toll of a fast-moving scandal. MPs can access support services through the House of Commons, but many do not seek help early, and the stigma remains. Warburton’s own comments about stress echoed what other politicians have said after facing long, highly public probes with little control over the timeline or the narrative.
Somerton and Frome has already moved on politically. The by-election flipped the seat, and the new MP has been dealing with bread-and-butter local issues. But Warburton’s death adds a grim footnote to a messy chapter—and it renews awkward questions about how Parliament balances fair process, speed, and care for everyone involved when serious allegations surface.
How the story unfolded
- 2015: Warburton wins Somerton and Frome for the Conservatives, taking it from the Liberal Democrats.
- 2022: Allegations of sexual misconduct emerge; the ICGS opens an investigation. The Conservative whip is suspended.
- 2022: Warburton admits to taking cocaine but denies harassment claims.
- June 2023: He resigns from Parliament, saying he was treated unfairly and "hounded."
- July 2023: Liberal Democrats win the Somerton and Frome by-election.
- August 26 (year not confirmed by police statement in this report): Warburton is found dead in a London flat. Police treat the death as unexpected but not suspicious.
We were unable to review the Daily Mail article about his wife’s reported comments on his health, so those claims remain unverified here. Official updates from police and the coroner will provide the next confirmed details.