A CUMBRIAN politician was among a dozen Conservative MPs who voted by proxy while watching a Euro 2020 football match.

Mark Jenkinson, Conservative MP for Workington, voted on the EU Resettlement Scheme by proxy while attending the England vs Denmark semi-final at Wembley on July 7.

When asked if it was acceptable for him to attend a football match when he was supposed to be voting, Mr Jenkinson said: "Everybody [voted by proxy] because we were told to. That was the request of Mr Speaker.

"We were asked to vote by proxy and not go into the division halls.

"I cast my vote. Proxy does not mean someone else votes however they wish on my behalf, it means that they cast whichever vote that I asked them to cast.

"We weren’t in the division lobby because we were in the middle of a Covid pandemic.

"I don’t know if you remember that, it was a while ago."

Mr Jenkinson received his ticket and hospitality from Entain Operations, one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups.

Entain runs Ladbrokes and Coral.

The ticket was worth £3,457.

According to the website Politico, 12 Conservative MPs attended the match.

This included Government Chief Whip Mark Spencer who is responsible for overseeing party discipline.

Other senior Conservatives at the match include Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary; Kit Malthouse, the Policing Minister; and Nigel Adams, Minister without Portfolio.

The match began shortly after a 6:59 pm vote in the House of Commons on the EU Settlement Scheme, in which hundreds of MPs cast proxy votes.

Several Labour MPs, including two shadow ministers, were also present.

They voted in an earlier division by proxy.

According to Politico, 11 of the 18 MPs at the match received their tickets from Entain.

The rules at the time stated proxy votes may be used by “members who do not wish to vote in person for medical or public health reasons related to the pandemic.”

It allowed one MP to cast a vote on behalf of another, but has since been abolished.