In 2018 Paisley was suspended from the House of Commons for 30 sitting days, beginning on 4 September 2018, because he broke paid advocacy rules by receiving hospitality from the Sri Lankan government without declaring that to the Commons. Following his suspension, the Recall of MPs Act 2015 was invoked for the first time since it received Royal Assent, the resulting recall petition—the first in British parliamentary history—however did not receive enough signatures to recall Paisley. His membership of the DUP was suspended between 24 July and 18 September 2018, during internal investigations by the party into his conduct.
