Coalville MP is 'evicted from home' by judge following lengthy legal dispute with family business says report

By Coalville Nub News Reporter

4th Sep 2022 | Local News

Coalville MP Andrew Bridgen. Photo: BBC Breakfast
Coalville MP Andrew Bridgen. Photo: BBC Breakfast

Coalville MP Andrew Bridgen has been evicted from his home after a dispute involving his family potato business, according to a national newspaper report.

The Sunday Times says that Mr Bridgen has been ordered to pay £800,000 after being branded 'dishonest' by a judge.

The newspaper also claims that Mr Bridgen has had to leave his Coleorton home which is owned by the family business and has a stable, sauna, swimming pool and 5.5 acres of land.

Mr Bridgen and has family were living in the Old Vicarage, a five-room property reportedly valued at about £1.5 million.

He was given a final deadline of August 24 and Bridgen, his wife and their child complied with the deadline.

It is not known where they now live, says the report.

The North West Leicestershire MP, says the newspaper., has spent years suing his family business, AB Produce, in Measham, which supplies potatoes and other vegetables to catering companies and supermarkets.

In March, a High Court judge ruled that he lied under oath, behaved in an "abusive, arrogant and aggressive" way, and was so "dishonest" that nothing he said about the dispute could be taken at face value.

The Sunday Times says that Mr Bridgen accused the firm of forcing him out of a £93,000-a-year second job, which required him to attend a monthly board meeting.

The judge found that, rather than being bullied out of the job as he alleged, Mr Bridgen resigned in order to reduce the amount he might owe his first wife in divorce proceedings.

Judge Brian Rawlings also found that Mr Bridgen pressured the police inspector in his parliamentary constituency of North West Leicestershire to launch a costly one-year investigation into vexatious allegations against his estranged younger brother, Paul Bridgen, 55, who runs AB Produce.

Photo: BBC Breakfast

In a later judgment in June, which came to light only last week says the Sunday Times, the MP has been forced by the judge to vacate his home.

The newspaper also alleges that Mr Bridgen had lived in the restored 18th-century property without charge since 2015.

Mr Bridgen was told to pay in excess of £800,000 in legal costs to three shareholders at his family's firm, of which one is his brother, Paul, after bringing claims of unfair treatment.

The newspaper claims he could yet be ordered to pay £244,000 in rent arrears.

It is understood that Mr Bridgen has paid the money he already owes.

But the newspaper adds that the source of the funds is unknown and is likely to "come under scrutiny".

Parliamentary rules stipulate that MPs who are declared bankrupt must step down if a bankruptcy restrictions order is made against them.

The Sunday Times says that he is also vulnerable to another referral to the parliamentary commissioner for standards as he failed to declare AB Produce as the entity paying his rent and utility bills.

According to the guide to the rules relating to the MPs' code of conduct, MPs must declare "taxable expenses, allowances and benefits such as company cars", as well as "financial support and sponsorship" and "gifts of property".

Mr Bridgen appeared publicly in Whitwick last week as Rishi Sunak gave a talk to local Conservatives ahead at the Man Within Compass pub ahead of tomorrow's Tory party leadership announcement.

He was also one of the chief opponents of outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and openly campaigned to have him removed from office.

• Coalville Nub News has approached Mr Bridgen's representatives for comment.

     

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