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The Tory candidate to replace former MP Owen Paterson today rules out taking any second jobs if elected as he seeks to distance himself from his disgraced predecessor.
Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst is the favourite to take the safe Tory seat of North Shropshire in a by-election triggered when Mr Paterson quit amidst a sleaze row.
The former British Army doctor and practicing barrister is standing in a seat won by the Tories with a 23,000 majority in 2019. It has been held by the Conservatives since it was created in 1983.
But the party faces a brace of December votes that will show how badly the ongoing sleaze row engulfing the Tories is harming them at the polls.
Mr Paterson quit on November 4 having broken parliamentary rules on paid lobbying on behalf of firms paying him £112,000 a year, on top of his £82,000 MP salary.
Ahead of the December 16 by-election in North Shropshire Dr Shastri-Hunt gave a 'cast iron commitment' that he would take no other job if elected.
'I commit to one job and one job only, that of being a hardworking constituency MP,' he told MailOnline.
Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst is the favourite to take the safe Tory seat of North Shropshire in a by-election triggered when Mr Paterson quit amidst a sleaze row.
Mr Paterson quit on November 4 having broken parliamentary rules on paid lobbying on behalf of firms paying him £112,000 a year, on top of his £82,000 MP salary.
'That is where my sole focus is at. Well, that and being a husband and
