The former minister Conor Burns has had the Tory whip restored after being cleared of misconduct at the party conference in October. Burns was sacked as trade minister by Liz Truss and had the whip withdrawn after a complaint about his behaviour at the annual Conservative party conference in Birmingham. It was reported that a witness had claimed to have seen him touching the thigh of a young man in a hotel bar. Burns had denied any wrongdoing. In a statement on Saturday, the Conservative party said that after reviewing all the available evidence, it had concluded there was “no basis on which to investigate further” and that the matter was closed. The MP for Bournemouth West expressed relief at the finding. He said he had been confident he would be cleared but that the past two months had been a “living nightmare”, particularly for his elderly parents. Speaking to the Bournemouth Echo, he said: “When you get to the point where your 80-year-old father is saying, ‘When is this going to end?’ and you spend your time reassuring everyone else you are fine when actually you are far from fine is very difficult. “It took a toll. The people I want to pay tribute to most of all for their loyalty, their encouragement and their faith in me are my constituents in Bournemouth West.” He added: “I knew that I would come out the other side of this and my name would be clear because there was nothing to what had happened. I knew I was innocent and the truth will out and it has.” Burns said he believed he had been the victim of a “stitch-up” because of complimentary remarks he made about the international trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, who was one of Truss’s rivals for the Tory leadership over the summer. “I think this all had become more to do with nice things I had said about the trade secretary than about being up late at the conference,” he said. “It felt and smelt like a stitch-up and that is what it was.” A Conservative party spokesperson said: “The party received a complaint and investigated, in line with its code of conduct. “After undertaking appropriate inquiries and reviewing all of the evidence available to establish the facts, the party concluded that there was no basis on which to investigate further. “The matter is now closed and Mr Burns’s membership will be reinstated at the nearest possible opportunity.” Burns said he was committed to continuing as the Conservative MP for Bournemouth West, including at the next election.