Former Co-Op chairman Paul Flowers charged with drug offences
Former Co-op Bank boss Paul Flowers was today charged with possession of class A and C drugs.
Mr Flowers was arrested by officers from West Yorkshire Police in the Liverpool area last year.
The Methodist minister was once a leading figure in the Labour movement in the Black Country where he was secretary of the West Bromwich West Labour Party in the early 1980s.
He had been minster at Hill Top Methodist Church and had at one stage was chosen as a Labour parliamentary candidate in Meriden, Warwickshire.
Flowers stepped down as the bank's chairman in June, amid claims of illegal drug use.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Paul Flowers, 63, of Hollingwood Drive, Bradford, has been charged with two offences of possession of a class A drug and one offence of possession of a class C drug.
"He has been bailed to appear before Leeds magistrates on May 7."
He was suspended by both the Methodist Church and the Labour Party following allegations that he bought and used illegal drugs.
It also emerged that he quit as a Labour councillor in Bradford after porn was found on his computer, although at the time he claimed he was leaving due to pressure of work.
