- Do YOU have a story? Email tips@dailymail.com
- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
Shamed former MP Mike Amesbury, whose life fell apart when he was jailed for punching one of his constituents, has been dealt another bitter blow – the collapse of his marriage.
The ex-Labour politician, who was jailed for ten weeks, suspended for two years, over the attack, previously revealed he had received treatment for depression in the wake of the incident.
He has also disclosed he was forced to put his family home on the market, after he was kicked out by his party, gave up his seat and lost his £91,000-a-year parliamentary salary.
But to add insult to injury, Amesbury has now revealed his wife, who wishes to remain anonymous and with whom he shares a teenage son, has divorced him – and that he now lives alone.
In a recent post on subscription-based platform Substack, where he has launched a mea culpa newsletter to air his woes, he spoke of his loneliness and estrangement from his family.
'People talk about divorce as the end of a relationship, and it is, of course it is, but it is also the breaking up of a whole geography, because home changes, routine changes, the sounds around you change, the kettle, the washing machine, the footsteps, the ordinary noise of another person being there,' he wrote, in an essay shared earlier this month.
'And then there is being separate from your son.
'That is the hardest part to write because there is no clever way to say it, I miss the ordinary bits, the effort to get him out of his bed, the half-conversation, the background noise, the casual presence of fatherhood, and when you live apart, love is still love, nothing changes that, but it becomes organised through times, lifts, plans, messages and arrangements. Love with logistics.'
Mike Amesbury (left), who was jailed for punching one of his constituents, has revealed his wife (right), who wishes to remain anonymous and has divorced him
The ex-Labour politician was jailed for ten weeks, suspended for two years, over the attack (pictured) on Paul Fellows, then 45, in October 2024
Amesbury (pictured outside court in February last year), has spoken of the loneliness and isolation he feels since he separated from his wife and their teenage son
Amesbury lost everything when he was jailed for ten weeks in February last year, after admitting to punching one of his constituents outside a taxi rank in a 2am fracas in October 2024.
He claimed he was 'threatened' before the drunken attack on Paul Fellows, then 45, in Frodsham, Cheshire, which is in his constituency of Runcorn and Helsby.
But CCTV footage exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail at the time showed the 57-year-old throwing a punch seemingly without physical provocation.
Amesbury then continued to strike Mr Fellows, who had approached him moments prior to discuss several local issues, as he lay on the ground.
The MP was kicked out by Labour before resigning his party membership in January last year. He sat as an independent before leaving Westminster entirely two months later.
He used to live with his wife, son and cockapoo dog Corbs, named after former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in a £685,000 detached five-bedroom mansion in Frodsham, Cheshire.
They sold the family home in October last year – and Amesbury now lives alone in a modest three-bedroom, semi-detached house in Chester, which he bought for £260,000 in January.
He now works as a volunteer board member at SPACE Runcorn CIC, a charity community mental health service offering a cafe, counselling room and 'wellness studio'.
The former MP also founded public affairs, campaigns and social impact consultancy CampaignsCo, which sees him advise charities, businesses and civic leaders.
His ex-wife, meanwhile, who now uses her maiden name, has stayed in Frodsham, where she has bought a £480,000 detached four-bedroom red-brick house.
In his post on Substack earlier this month, Amesbury told of his anguish and isolation over his divorce.
'I have moved to a new area, and that brings another kind of loneliness, not dramatic, just unfamiliar, because you do not know the people in the shop, you do not have the casual nods yet, you do not bump into somebody who knows the old version of you and does not need the edited explanation,' he admitted.
'You start again, but not from the beginning, and that is the strange bit, because you arrive with your history, your mistakes, your grief, your pride, your boxes, new bills, your memories, and you try to make a life in streets that do not know you.'
Amesbury added: 'Loneliness does not always announce itself in some dramatic way, it is not always sitting in a dark room with nobody to call.
CCTV footage (pictured) exclusively obtained by the Daily Mail at the time showed the 57-year-old throwing a punch seemingly without physical provocation
The ex-MP then continued to strike Mr Fellows (pictured, outside his home in 2024), who had approached him moments prior to discuss several local issues, as he lay on the ground
'Sometimes, it is quieter than that, more ordinary, more humiliating in a way, because sometimes it is just the mobile phone that does not ring anymore, the message that stays unread, the old colleague who used to ask what you thought about a speech, a campaign, a political row, but now does not ask at all, or the friend, or the person you thought was a friend, who seems to have quietly stepped out of the picture.
'No row, no explanation, just a blank page, an absence.'
The former MP has since disclosed he has also now lost his beloved family dog, Corbs, who passed away suddenly on Tuesday.
'Now he has gone, and it feels as though another piece of what was once my family has gone with him,' he wrote, in a post shared shortly after his pet's tragic death.
'He gave comfort without asking questions and companionship without judgement. He had no interest in status, success, failure, scandal or reputation.
'He simply waited for me to come home.'
Before the attack that ended his political career, Amesbury was approached by constituent Mr Fellows, about a local bridge closure and Labour's changes to pensioners' winter fuel payments.
The former MP then punched him in the head, causing him to fall to the floor, where he struck him at least five more times before bystanders intervened.
Amesbury was held back by others but shouted several times, 'Don't ever threaten me again,' in what a court heard was an unprovoked assault.
Judge Tan Ikram said: 'Your reference to being a member of Parliament brings negative impact for the office you are privileged to hold.
'Your position means you ought to be a role model to others, that's something you ought to be mindful of in everything you do.'
Amesbury, who left his victim with a lump on his head and a grazed elbow, pleaded guilty to common assault and was jailed for ten weeks on February 24 last year.
He was also ordered to pay £200 in compensation, £85 in costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
The ex-MP spent only three nights in a Liverpool jail before appealing his sentence on February 27. It was then suspended for two years, meaning he did not have to serve it in prison.
He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation, and undertake a 12-month alcohol monitoring requirement and an anger management course.
The compensation, costs and victim surcharge remained the same.
Amesbury's subsequent resignation from Parliament triggered a by-election in his seat of Runcorn and Helsby, which Reform UK won in May last year by just six votes.
In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Radio 4 Today after the results came in, he told of the ongoing impact his crimes have had on his political and personal life.
Of the moment he was taken to prison and strip-searched, he said: 'It felt like a living nightmare, it was quite surreal, I felt like I was in an out-of-body experience.'
Asked how the last few months had been, Amesbury said: 'It's been challenging but what I will say is I'm not the victim here. I owned it. I pleaded guilty.
'I've been in prison, out of prison, on appeal. I got a suspended two-year sentence. I've been doing community payback work.
'I have a tag on my ankle, I think it's for 120 days, that's on 24 hours a day. Every 30 seconds, you get a light buzz and that measures alcohol in sweat.'
Amesbury, who said he had had 'six or seven pints', recalled the moment he was approached by Mr Fellows.
'To be honest, Mr Fellows had had a few drinks himself, he was out on a Saturday night,' he said.
'I felt verbally threatened and I reacted rather than walking away. That's what I should have done. My reaction was totally inappropriate. I've owned that many times over now, not only through the criminal justice system, but I'd worked very hard, was elected three times and how life changes.'
Amesbury said he was now being treated for depression with medication and receiving support through counselling. He said it was something he should have done before the incident.
Amesbury (pictured with Prime Minister and Labour leader Andy Burnham in 2019) was kicked out by Labour before resigning his party membership in January last year
He also opened up about a spell in hospital to support his mental health so he can start 'rebuilding his life'.
Of putting his family home on the market, he said: 'I can't afford that, My income as an MP is no longer there, that stops the day you resign. I don't know what the future holds. It's been my life.'
Amesbury continued: 'It has been like being buried alive. I am in a position through my own fault, my own mistakes.'