Miriam Cates: Sheffield and Barnsley Conservative MP under investigation by parliamentary standards watchdog

Miriam Cates is under investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog.

Ms Cates, who is MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, is up against claims she caused "significant damage to the reputation" of the House of Commons and its members, according to the watchdogs website.

The exact details of any allegations investigated by the Standards Commissioner - Daniel Greenberg - are kept confidential until the inquiry is closed. Those under investigation are also barred from discussing allegations.

Ms Cates was elected the Tory MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge in the 2019 General Election and has since built a reputation for herself amongst right-wing Conservatives.

She is the Co-Chair of the New Conservatives group, which she founded along with fellow MP Danny Kruger, and has made numerous headlines in some parts of the press for some of her views.

Most recently, she criticised the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill, when she claimed it didn't go far enough in disapplying foreign human rights laws.

She is also outspoken about declining fertility rates in Britain and advocates policies to promote marriage and having children.

Ms Cates has spearheaded a review of the sex education curriculum (RSE) in Britain, claiming current lessons are a "safeguarding scandal" and in April telling Parliament: "Graphic lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely and 72 genders - this is what passes for relationships and sex education in British schools."

Ms Cates previously served as a senior member of the board between 2016 and 2018 for St Thomas Philadelphia Church, a Sheffield church currently under review by Barnado’s for performing allegedly abusive "gay exorcisms". Ms Cates denies knowledge of any such incidents, and left the church in 2018 for "family reasons".

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is currently investigating eight MPs, seven of which are Conservatives while the eighth is the former Tory Andrew Bridgen who now sits for Reclaim.