The Westminster lobbyist who paid the former minister, Mr Neil Hamilton, £10,000 for asking questions in the House of Commons on behalf of, among others, US Tobacco and the National Nuclear Corporation, said yesterday he would have resigned if he had been in Mr Hamilton's position.
But the lobbyist, Mr Ian Greer, said that Mr Hamilton, who is fighting the former BBC journalist, Mr Martin Bell, to keep his Tatton, Cheshire, seat, was in an "appallingly difficult" situation and was suffering persecution by the press.
"It's a terrible dilemma," said Mr Greer, whose lobby firm collapsed last year in the wake of the cash for questions controversy. "If he steps down people will say, `Ah, there you are, he accepted money.' If he stays on, people will say: `It really is disgraceful, he should have stood down for the sake of the party'."
. The Liberal Democrats voted to stand down their candidate in Tatton, Dr Roger Barlow. Tatton Labour party withdrew its candidate last week.