Neil Parish was searching for a “Dominator” farm vehicle when he watched porn in Parliament, a friend has said.
A friend told The Telegraph he believed he searched for Dominators – a brand of combine harvester.
Colin Slade, a Devon county councillor, said he “could see” the “play on words”.
He said he heard that the MP was looking for “a brand of tractor named Dominator”, adding: “You can easily see where that would go.”
Mr Slade, a deputy chairman of the Tiverton and Honiton Conservative Association, backed the explanation of the outgoing MP, who he considers a good friend, saying: “I believe it to be true.”
Mr Parish, who represented Tiverton and Honiton, had fought to stay on after it emerged he was the subject of complaints from female MPs who spotted him watching porn in Parliament.
However, on Saturday he resigned from his position after saying he recognised the “furore” he had caused.
In an interview with BBC South West, he said: “The situation was, funnily enough it was tractors I was looking at, so I did get into another website with sort of a very similar name and I watched it for a bit, which I shouldn’t have done.
“My crime, my most biggest crime, is that on another occasion I went in a second time, and that was deliberate.
“That was sitting waiting to vote on the side of the chamber.”
