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Owen Paterson has announced his resignation as an MP after two days of rows in Parliament over his punishment for breaking lobbying rules.

The North Shropshire MP (pictured above) insists he did nothing wrong and wanted to appeal against the Commons Standards Committee's ruling that would have led to a 30-day suspension from Parliament.

The government ordered its MPs to vote for the suspension to be put on hold while they rejigged the system for investigating wrongdoing.

But ministers then reversed their decision after a backlash from opposition and some Tory MPs.

Mr Paterson, a former cabinet minister, has been a paid consultant for clinical diagnostics company Randox since 2015 and to meat distributer Lynn's Country Foods since 2016, earning a total of £100,000 a year on top of his MP's salary.

MPs are allowed to have jobs as consultants, but they are not allowed to use their influence in Westminster for the company's gain. 

Kathryn Stone is the independent Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in the House of Commons who made the recommendation to suspend Mr Paterson due to his breach of lobbying rules.  

She is the sixth person to hold the post since it was created in 1995. 

Her role includes providing advice and investigating allegations that MPs have broken their code of conduct.

Ms Stone began the job in January 2018, having been elected from a list of over 81 candidates, and her term ends in 2023. 

In the run up to Wednesday's vote to amend the way the conduct of MPs is policed, Ms Stone faced criticism from some Tory MPs. 

Senior Tory MP David Davis said her investigations were "amateurish". 

But her supporters insisted the criticism reflected Ms Stone's determination.

In his role as chairman of the Commons Standards Committee, Chris Bryant oversees the work of the independent parliamentary commissioner - Ms Stone. 

Mr Bryant is the Labour MP for Rhondda constituency in Wales. 

Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said Wednesday's amendment vote was "the very definition of injustice" and most MPs "decided at the very last minute, for a named individual, they would change the rules". 

Mr Bryant added: "That is not what we do in this country."

Dame Andrea Leadsom put forward the amendment to change the way MPs' conduct is investigated. 

She is a Tory MP and former leader of the House of Commons - the role now held by Jacob Rees-Mogg.  

The House of Commons voted for the government-backed proposal calling for a review of Mr Paterson's case and an overhaul of the disciplinary process. 

A total of 247 Conservative MPs voted for the amendment put forward by Dame Andrea Leadsom.

But 13 voted against it and many more abstained, despite No 10 ordering its MPs to back the move.

Ms Leadsom told Channel 4 that the decision was about "justice for MPs". 

Owen Paterson, who was forced to quit as an MP after a lobbying probe, claims his right to privacy was infringed.

Ex-Tory MP Paterson takes UK to European court

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Welsh Tory president slates Boris Johnson, but an MP says he should be able to "leave with dignity".