Downing Street staffer ‘groped woman at Conservative Party conference and was banned from working on General Election campaign’ as Tory HQ is accused of mishandling her complaint
- No10 staffer allegedly groped a woman at the Conservative Party conference
- He was reportedly banned from working on the latest General Election campaign
- The Conservatives HQ has been accused of mishandling the woman’s complaint
A Downing Street staffer was allegedly banned from working on the latest General Election campaign because he groped a female senior government worker at the Conservative Party conference.
The male No 10 staffer reportedly pinched the woman’s buttocks during an event that Prime Minister Boris Johnson was at on September 30, 2019.
Downing Street was told about the claims against the staffer after the woman filed a complaint to the Tories but did not think it necessary to block his appointment, Politico reported.
The Conservative Party Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) has since been accused of mishandling the woman’s complaint.
A Downing Street staffer was allegedly banned from working on the latest General Election campaign because he groped a female senior government worker at the Conservative Party conference during an event Boris Johnson (pictured at the Conference in 2019) was at
Downing Street was allegedly told about the claims against the staffer after the woman filed a complaint to the Tories but did not think it necessary to block his appointment
A CCHQ investigation by HR chief Sara Mathews into the groping allegation, which the staffer has adamantly denied, found the complaint could not be proved owing to a lack of evidence.
However, senior Tories supposedly decided the claim alone should mean the staffer was banned from campaigning in the general election, even though he hadn’t applied for such a position.
Both the alleged victim and the staffer who reportedly attacked her were informally told of the decision to clear him.
Yet he was never told he had been barred from campaigning in the election and Conservative chair of the House of Commons women and equalities committee Caroline Nokes said the case would not help people who wanted to report similar allegations in future.
It’s not the first time the Tories have been slammed for the way they allegedly dealt with sexual misconduct allegations.
Rob Roberts, an MP who was suspended from the Conservatives for the sexual harassment of one of his staff, was reinstated to the Party after just 12 weeks.
It’s not the first time the Tories have been slammed for the way they allegedly dealt with sexual misconduct allegations. Pictured: Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves the stage with his partner Carrie Symonds after delivering his speech during the Conservative Party Conference at the Manchester Convention Centre, Britain, 02 October 2019
Meanwhile, both Andrew Griffiths and Charlie Elphicke were let into the Party in time for a no-confidence vote in then-Prime Minister Theresa May.
A civil court ruled in 2021 that Griffiths raped his wife while she was asleep and Elphicke was jailed in 2020 for three counts of sexual assault.
After the latest allegations, a Downing Street spokesman said: ‘I believe an investigation was undertaken by CCHQ. It would be a matter for them.’
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: ‘This matter was investigated and closed at the time’.
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