The independent MP originally won the seat for Labour, sensationally beating former prime minister Sir Nick Clegg.
Image:Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O'Mara
Independent Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O'Mara has said he will
resign when parliament returns from its summer recess in September.
The
37-year-old, who originally won the seat for Labour by beating former
deputy prime minister Sir Nick Clegg in the snap general election of
2017, told local newspaper the Sheffield Star that he would quit after
an earlier announcement that he would be taking time off to get help for
mental health problems.
In a statement, he said he wanted to apologise to his family, friends
and constituents for having "not been honest with you about the depths
of my depression and self-loathing".
Image:Mr O'Mara did not make his maiden speech to parliament for more than a year
"When I started this job in 2017 I was a different man: a confident
and passionate man that wanted to help others," the former school
governor said.
"Sadly, I was unable to do that because very
quickly I was bullied and mistreated in a harsh and unforgiving
environment and that led me to be weak."
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Mr O'Mara spent his first year as an MP dogged by controversy
following the emergence of sexist and homophobic comments he made
online.
He had the whip withdrawn by the Labour Party but was later
readmitted with a formal warning, only to leave last year because he had
been "made unfairly to feel like a criminal".
He blamed party leader Jeremy Corbyn for how he had been treated and decided to sit as an independent, and finally made his maiden speech to parliament last summer.
At
the time of his resignation from Labour, he revealed he had made three
suicide attempts over the furore about his previous comments - and
described himself as "the first autistic MP in our history".
Image:Mr O'Mara blamed Jeremy Corbyn for how he was treated during his time as a Labour MP
Earlier this week, in his announcement that he would be taking time
off, he said that his mental health had deteriorated further and that he
had become "unrecognisable".
It came after the dramatic
resignation of his chief of staff, Gareth Arnold, who quit in a series
of explosive tweets published to Mr O'Mara's Twitter account.
Mr
Arnold has been asked to stay in his post until a new MP takes the
Sheffield Hallam seat, with a by-election to be triggered when Mr O'Mara
resigns on 3 September.
Labour has said it will "continue to
provide support" to Mr O'Mara, with a spokesman adding the party
"remained concerned for his welfare".
Olivia Blake, the party's candidate for the constituency, said she was determined to win the by-election.
She
said: "The Labour party is ready for a by-election. Hallam needs a
Labour MP who will represent and support local people and seek to
reverse the damage done by almost a decade of austerity under the Tories
and the Lib Dems.
"We need a Labour government that will invest in our communities in Hallam and across Sheffield and the North."
