Britain's Lord Sewel resigns leadership posts amid drugs and prostitute allegations

Lord Sewel resigned his leadership posts after this article — (Image credit: Twitter/@TheSun)

On Sunday, Lord John Sewel, the deputy speaker of Britain's House of Lords and its enforcer of parliamentary standards, resigned those leadership positions after the tabloid The Sun on Sunday posted images from a video of him purportedly snorting cocaine with two prostitutes at his London apartment:

Lord Sewel, 69, is married and represents no party in Parliament. At one point in the taped encounter, The Sun alleges, he stripped naked and snorted coke from the breasts of the prostitutes. "The revelations about the behavior of Lord Sewel are both shocking and unacceptable," said Baroness Frances D'Souza, the speaker of the House of Lords. "These serious allegations will be referred to the House of Lords commissioner for standards and the Metropolitan Police for investigation as a matter of urgency."

Sewel had recently touted new measures in the House of Lords to crack down on "behavior that breaches the Code of Conduct," including expelling members from the upper house of Parliament. "Scandals make good headlines," he wrote in The Huffington Post. "Preventive measures seldom do."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.