Conservative party 'must come clean' over Mark Clarke bullying allegations
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Version 0 of 1. The father of a young Tory activist who is believed to have killed himself after being bullied by a former parliamentary hopeful has called for senior members of the party to “come clean” over the scandal. Mark Clarke, who lost to Labour’s Sadiq Khan in Tooting, south London, in 2010, was accused of bullying by 21-year-old Elliott Johnson before he died. The Conservatives revealed on Thursday that former party chairman Grant Shapps was responsible for recruiting Clarke, who was expelled from the party for life earlier this week. It has previously been reported that Clarke was leaning on Johnson to retract a complaint he had made about him to Conservative Campaign Headquarters. Ray Johnson, Elliott’s father, said: “One thing is certain, the Johnson family will not stop until those who leaked our son’s complaint to Clarke are outed and those responsible for tolerating, or worse – encouraging Clarke and his minions, are exposed for all to see. “The Conservative party owe it to Elliott’s memory and all those young activists who have suffered at the hands of Clarke. They must come clean.” The Tories had been investigating Clarke since before Johnson’s death in September. A number of whistleblowers have come forward to allege that Clarke, who ran the RoadTrip2015 campaign that bussed young activists around the country, was engaged in inappropriate behaviour. Robert Halfon, deputy chairman of the party, was warned before the election that Clarke could try to blackmail him about an affair with a Tory activist. Ben Howlett, a Conservative MP, also told BBC Newsnight this week that he had warned the party leadership about Clarke’s behaviour and felt personally bullied in a way that affected his health. In the latest accusations, a whistleblower told the Daily Mail there were concerns about Clarke going back at least seven years, which she had sent to the party leadership and Downing Street. She claimed Clarke had compiled dossiers on Tory MPs after encouraging young activists to sleep with them, and threatened to destroy her after she turned down an unwanted sexual advance. Clarke has claimed the latest allegations are untrue. Clarke was praised for his work for the RoadTrip2015 campaign by David Cameron during this year’s election. In response to the latest allegations, a Conservative spokeswoman has released a lengthy statement that reveals Shapps brought Clarke on board in 2014, in a move that will increase pressure on the Tory chairman to explain whether he had ever been aware of any of the complaints. The party also said it would ask an independent lawyer from the law firm Clifford Chance to review its inquiry. “After the general election in 2010, all candidates on the old approved list were asked to re-apply for the new list,” said the statement. “Those who applied were interviewed by an assessment panel and a recommendation was put to the candidates committee. Several hundred candidates were not invited back on to the list, including Mark Clarke.” “Mark Clarke established RoadTrip2015 on his own initiative to campaign in key constituencies in the run-up to the general election. In 2014, Grant Shapps asked Mark Clarke to work in conjunction with ... the party’s own volunteer activist organisation. “We have been unable to find any written complaints of bullying, harassment or any other inappropriate behaviour during this period that were not dealt with … The party is continuing with its internal inquiry which began in August 2015 in response to a formal complaint, received by Lord Feldman, about the behaviour of Mark Clarke.” The statement also encouraged any witnesses to come forward. Clarke has previously released a statement saying: “I believe that these false allegations and this media firestorm are related to the events surrounding Elliott’s sad death. As such I will be cooperating with the coroner and providing him with the fullest information. This is the proper process. After the inquest I will look to take legal action for defamation in respect of these allegations.” Johnson, a University of Nottingham graduate who worked for the campaign group Conservative Way Forward, was found dead on railway tracks at Sandy station in Bedfordshire on 15 September. He had made a formal complaint to the party about Clarke before his death. |