Jared O’Mara ‘postpones’ resignation as Sheffield Hallam MP

Defiant Jared O’Mara has postponed his resignation as Sheffield Hallam MP despite pledging to his constituents he would stand down today following a turbulent two years in office.
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Mr O’Mara exclusively told The Star back in July that he would be standing down when parliament resumed after the summer recess as he was in ‘no fit state to continue’.

But The Treasury has confirmed this afternoon that it has received a letter from the 37-year-old requesting that his resignation be ‘postponed’.

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A spokesman said: “Mr O’Mara remains an MP. He has recently written to the Chancellor requesting that his appointment to the Crown be postponed.”

Jared O'Mara. Picture: Dean Atkins Jared O'Mara. Picture: Dean Atkins
Jared O'Mara. Picture: Dean Atkins

The spokesman would not disclose when the letter was written or received and would only say it was ‘recently’.

Although MPs cannot directly resign their seat, Chancellor Sajid Javid has to appoint them to a historic office, which bars them from standing as an MP by law.

To resign MPs are appointed to either the Steward and Bailiffs of the Chiltern Hundreds or the Manor of Northstead – a position traditionally paid for by the Crown.

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In modern times they are unpaid, formal titles that are applied for when an MP needs to disqualify themselves from the Commons.

But Mr O’Mara remains MP for Sheffield Hallam despite his pledge he would resign today following a scandal-hit two years in office.

His downfall began within just two months of taking up office when he was stripped of the Labour whip because of comments made online before standing for parliament.

His whip was reintated in July 2018 following an investigation, only for him to resign from the party nine days later.

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More recently, he closed his constituency office for a month in April, all his staff were either sacked or walked out with at least two tribunals pending, and he stopped holding surgeries or responding to correspondence from the public for a period of time.

Then, in July, he said he had got a fresh team behind him and was operating from a new office in the city centre.

But, again, just weeks later, he was then left to pick up the pieces after his former chief of staff resigned in a spectacular foul-mouthed rant on the MP’s own Twitter account.

Gareth Arnold posted on Twitter how Sheffield Hallam ‘deserved so much better than him’ and labelled him a ‘selfish, degenerate p****’.

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And then Jen Barnes, who worked as a communications officer for the MP, disclosed a serious of Whatsapp messages she had received, including one which was 17 paragraphs long in which she said Mr O’Mara told her ‘he loved her’.

The Star then exclusively revealed how the MP said he was ‘not well and in the process of receiving medical help’ and would resign following the MPs’ summer recess.

And then in August, Mr O’Mara was reportedly arrested on suspicion of fraud , alongside Mr Arnold, who, it is alleged, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Both men were released pending further investigation.

Mr O’Mara could not be reached for comment.

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