An MP has apologised after being found to have breached the Parliamentary Code of Conduct.

The Gillingham and Rainham MP Rehman Chishti was investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner following his support for a planning application made by one of his donors.

Residents had been angered earlier this year when Mr Chishti wrote to Medway Council in support of the application from Jarvis Residential Ltd to build seven homes on former tennis courts behind Second Avenue in Gillingham.

The subsequent investigation looked into whether Mr Chishti, who has a financial connection and friendship with the Jarvis family, had broken paragraph 11 of the code – relating to "conflict between private interests and the public interest" – and paragraph 14, relating to "declaration of interests".

The commissioner has since found that Mr Chishti had not breached paragraph 11 but had breached paragraph 14.

A summary of the commissioner's findings stated: "The allegation I investigated was that the member had failed to adequately declare a financial interest when writing to a public official as required by the guide to the rules relating to the conduct of members.

"This allegedly put the member in breach 5 of the requirements of paragraph 14 of the Code of Conduct for Members of Parliament.

"I also investigated an allegation that the member’s letter to the public official was in support of that financial interest and not in support of the public interest.

"This allegedly put the member in breach of the requirements of paragraph 11 of the code.

"I upheld the allegations in part; concluding that whilst paragraph 14 had been breached, paragraph 11 had not.

"I concluded that the interest in question met the test of relevance and the declaration that had been made in the letter to the public official was not adequate."

The summary went on to add: "During my inquiry, the member also informed me that his entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests had become out of date as two expired interests had not been removed.

"I concluded that the member’s register entry had not been updated in line with the requirements of the House and that this amounted to two further breaches of paragraph 14 of the code.

"The member accepted my decision, acknowledged his breaches of the rules, and apologised for the breaches.

"The member also undertook to ensure that his future written declarations are made in line with the requirements of the guide and that his register entry is updated in line with the requirements of the guide.

"I considered the member's apology and remedial actions to be an appropriate outcome."

Mr Chishti has since posted on Facebook reacting to the decision, stating: "I thank the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner for her fair and thorough investigation into this matter, which confirmed that I acted 'after a consideration of the public interest and was objectively in line the public interest' and that there was no breach of the House of Commons Code of Conduct related to conflicts of interest.

"In my 11 years as the Member of Parliament for Gillingham and Rainham, my home towns, I have always acted in the best interests of my constituency and made decisions in the public interest."

He said the initial complaint into his conduct had been "politically motivated" and made against him by a Labour councillor on Medway Council.

He added: "I have always worked with local residents to campaign against unacceptable large-scale housing developments being imposed in our constituency (one of the most densely populated constituencies in the South East) and on our cherished green spaces.

"After giving evidence at the Planning Inspectorate's public inquiry into the unacceptable Pump Lane development in February 2021, it became even clearer that in order to avoid having unsustainable large-scale developments without appropriate infrastructure being imposed on our local area and damaging our valued green spaces, we need to proactively support small-scale developments with appropriate infrastructure on a case-by-case basis until a new Local Plan has been developed by the local authority in consultation with local residents.

"To do nothing is not an option.

"Having re-read the rules, I accept the commissioner's decision on this matter that a breach had occurred on the adequacy of the declaration"

"The housing situation in Medway is unsatisfactory. Medway Council does not have a Local Plan, nor a five-year housing land supply.

"The representations I made on the Glebe Road development were the right representations with the public interest in mind and were done through appropriate procedure and were made publicly available on the Medway Council planning portal.

"I note that the independent Medway Council planning officer's recommendation was to approve the development with conditions."

Mr Chishti addressed the breach at the end of his statement, adding: "With regards to the letter on February 19, 2021, I made a declaration in that letter, however I accept the commissioner's finding that the declaration needed to be clearer in line with the House of Commons rules.

"Having re-read the rules, I accept the commissioner's decision on this matter that a breach had occurred on the adequacy of the declaration and the matter is now resolved through the Parliamentary Rectification Procedure."

Labour's Chrissy Stamp, councillor for Watling ward, said: “I’m grateful to the commissioner for looking into this complaint.

"It is very disappointing to see that Rehman Chishti failed to follow the rules which Members of Parliament are expected to follow with the commissioner upholding my complaint about the breach of this rule.

"Planning is a legal matter and residents should expect all elected representatives to follow the rules.”

Read more: all the latest news from Medway