A former Conservative minister arrested on suspicion of rape should have the party whip removed immediately, the shadow domestic violence minister, Jess Phillips, has said. The MP for Birmingham Yardley called for action on Sunday after a woman in her twenties accused the Tory MP of violent sexual assault and coercive control. The accused MP, who has not been named, was taken into custody in east London early on Saturday. He has been released on bail to a date later this month. Party officials said they would consider removing the whip at the conclusion of a police inquiry. Phillips said she found it “shocking” the Tory whip had not yet been removed pending the outcome of the investigation. “In any other organisation, were this investigation to be going on, this police investigation, somebody would be suspended while the investigation was taking place,” she told Times Radio. The complainant, a former parliamentary aide, reported four incidents, alleged to have taken place between July 2019 and January 2020, in Westminster, Lambeth and Hackney. She alleged that the MP assaulted her, forced her to have sex and left her so traumatised that she had to go to hospital. The Metropolitan police said detectives had launched an investigation following the allegations, which it received on 31 July. The arrest came days after Charlie Elphicke, a former Conservative party whip and married father of two, became the first MP in a generation to be convicted of sexual assault. He was found guilty of three charges of sexual assault in 2007 and 2016, including one incident in which he forced himself on a woman at his Belgravia home, groped her and shouted: “I’m a naughty Tory.” Theresa May’s government faced criticism after removing the whip from Elphicke once allegations first emerged – in effect throwing him out of the party – only to return it before a crunch confidence vote. In the latest case, a fellow Conservative MP first raised the woman’s allegation with Mark Spencer, the chief whip, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the House of Commons, after speaking to the alleged victim a month ago. Questions will also be raised about the conduct of Spencer, who spoke to the woman directly but took no action, according to the Sunday Times. It is understood Spencer does not believe a sexual assault was reported to him in his conversation with the complainant, but acknowledges that she reported “abusive behaviour and threats”. He also advised her to go to the independent complaints and grievance scheme (ICGS). Rees-Mogg did not speak to the alleged victim, but encouraged the fellow MP to advise the alleged victim to go to the police, sources said. A spokesperson on behalf of the whips’ office said: “These are serious allegations and it is right that they are investigated fully. The whip has not been suspended. This decision will be reviewed once the police investigation has been concluded.” The alleged victim made her claims to the ICGS this year. The system was established in the wake of the “Pestminster” scandal in 2017 to allow parliamentary staff to report allegations of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct. The accused MP has been approached for comment.