Tory MP facing bankruptcy proceedings given time to raise money

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A judge has given a Conservative MP facing bankruptcy proceedings time to raise money.

Judge Sally Barber on Tuesday approved a plan for Adam Afriyie, who represents Windsor, to sell a property.

The judge considered Mr Afriyie’s case at an online hearing in the specialist Insolvency and Companies Court.

HM Revenue & Customs had filed a bankruptcy petition, the judge heard.

Judge Barber said she had been asked to “validate” a plan for Mr Afriyie to sell his “main private residence”.

Mr Afriyie did not appear at Tuesday’s hearing, but the judge heard from a lawyer representing him.

Details of the amount Mr Afriyie is said to owe did not emerge at the hearing. But the judge was told that the property set to be sold had a mortgage of about £3 million.

She heard that there were a number of creditors, and that the main creditor was HM Revenue & Customs.

Judge Barber indicated that the case would be reviewed in about three months.

Mr Afriyie, who is in his 50s, was elected in 2005

A “background” section on the website www.adamafriyie.org says: “Adam is known for his thoughtfulness, honesty and plain-speaking style.

“Born in 1965 to a white English mother and a black Ghanaian father, Adam was brought up by his mother in social housing in South London.

“He attended Oliver Goldsmith Primary School in Peckham and went on to gain a B.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from Imperial College (Wye).”

News of the bankruptcy proceedings emerged in late 2019.

A spokeswoman for Mr Afriyie told the BBC at the time that the petition had arisen due to “complex business reasons”.

She said then that the petition was “subject to legal challenge” and likely to be be “dismissed as part of the ongoing negotiations with HMRC” or when an agreement was reached.”