Disgraced former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya has been struck off as a solicitor after lying to avoid a speeding conviction.

The 35-year-old, who worked in commercial property law before she was elected to parliament in 2017, was jailed for perverting the course of justice last year, claiming someone else was driving her car.

A number of allegations were found proven by a misconduct tribunal and she can no longer practise as a regulated solicitor.

Edward Nally, chairman of a three-member panel at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal in central London, said: “As a parliamentarian makes the law so a solicitor must uphold the law and rule of law, and sadly in this case Ms Onasanya has failed in those duties.

“We must strike off Ms Onasanya from the roll of solicitors.”

The tribunal found she acted dishonestly, failed to act with integrity, and failed to behave in a way that maintains the trust the public places in her.

Mr Nally added: “That conviction we are aware has led to disastrous consequences for Ms Onasanya both personally and professionally.

“As a solicitor there are professional consequences that follow from a proven act of dishonesty that has been found by a jury after trial.”

Ms Onasanya lost the Labour whip but continued to sit as an independent MP until a recall petition forced a by-election in her Peterborough seat.

She decided not to stand again, with Labour winning the ensuing by-election.

In the hearing she told the panel she is “pursuing avenues to clear my name”, adding: “I maintain that I did not do an act tending or intending to pervert the course of public justice.”

Ms Onasanya also said the speeding incident did not have a “negative effect” on anyone.

She was ordered to pay £6,562 to cover the costs of prosecution to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The SRA had applied for £22,762 claiming the case took 40 hours of preparation, but Mr Nally reduced it noting he had “anxiety about the numbers of hours that have been claimed”.

Ms Onasanya maintained her innocence after conviction, posting a Twitter video in which she said: “Throughout the last few months, you would have seen news articles, television articles, and also read on social media about my case.

“And, all of this time, I have not been able to share my side. But, just like a coin has two sides, so does a story.

“And this is my time now to share with you, without media spin, what my side of the story is.

“From the outset, I have maintained my innocence. I have not perverted the course of justice.

“I have not colluded with my brother. My defence was never put across in the media.

“At all times, they always put forward the prosecution’s case.”

In the video, Ms Onasanya did not provide any further details about her case.

Jurors at the Old Bailey were told Ms Onasanya colluded with her brother Festus after her car was clocked speeding at 41mph in a 30mph zone in Thorney, near Peterborough, in July 2017.

She was sent a notice of intended prosecution to fill out.

But it was sent back naming the guilty driver as Aleks Antipow, an acquaintance of her brother, who was away visiting his parents in Russia.

Festus Onasanya, 34, from Cambridge, was jailed for 10 months after he admitted three counts of perverting the course of justice over speeding, including the 24 July incident.

The former MP ended up serving a third of her sentence, leaving HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, after a month.

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