Ivan Lewis MP
The former minister was placed under investigation last week REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

The Labour Party has suspended an MP who has been accused of sexual harassment.

Ivan Lewis, was placed under investigation by the party last week and apologised for making anyone feel "awkward", but denied making any "non-consensual sexual comments or sexual advances towards women".

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A spokesperson for the party said: "The Labour party takes all allegations of sexual harassment extremely seriously. Ivan Lewis is currently suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation."

Four women told Buzfeed News that Lewis had made unwanted advances and a fifth claimed that his behaviour was "common knowledge" among those in parliament.

Lewis, 50, has been the MP for Bury South since 1997, and was a minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

In opposition under Ed Miliband, he was promoted to the shadow cabinet.

Lewis is the latest MP to be engulfed int he scandal which has dominated the political landscape for much of the past month.

The biggest scalp was the defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon who was forced to resign after he said that his behaviour had "fallen short" of the necessary standards.

Theresa May's deputy, Damian Green, was accused of sending "suggestive" messages to writer Kate Maltby, as well as possessing extreme pornographic material.

While the Labour party are also investigating the alleged rape of activist Bex Bailey who claimed that she was discouraged by an official within the party from reporting the incident which occurred during a Labour event in 2011.