Tatler Tory scandal: Bullying report branded a 'whitewash'

An inquiry into bullying within the Conservative Party has been branded a "whitewash" by the father of a young activist who took his own life.

The investigation by law firm Clifford Chance identified 13 alleged victims of Mark Clarke, the former Tory candidate at the heart of the scandal, including six allegations of sexual assault.

Clarke, nicknamed the "Tatler Tory", was mentioned in a suicide note left by 21-year-old Elliott Johnson last year. He said he had been repeatedly bullied by the campaigner in a sustained campaign of victimisation.

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Clarke denies the allegations and declined to be interviewed by the investigators.

Their report said Clarke was "on the radar" of senior Conservative Party staff, including David Cameron's spin doctor, Sir Lynton Crosby, after he had come under suspicion of using inappropriate jobs titles, but that no one was aware of the bullying claims.

It also found "no evidence" that the party's co-chairmen, Lord Feldman and Grant Shapps, had been aware of the allegations. Both men "had faced claims that they had deliberately ignored allegations and failed to deal with complaints", says Buzzfeed. Shapps resigned from the Cabinet last November.

Johnson's father, Ray, has accused the party of a "whitewash".

"We knew in our hearts it would be nothing more than a cover-up. They've exonerated themselves," he said.

However, the report does lay bare "the party's haphazard way of dealing with internal complaints, with some never passed on to the appropriate person and others actually forwarded to Mr Clarke himself", says the Daily Telegraph.

The party said it will introduce a dedicated complaints hotline for volunteers, after the inquiry found there was "no confidential telephone line or email address" for party members to raise complaints and that "no log" of allegations was kept.

Tatler Tory scandal: Bullying dossier 'handed to Feldman in 2010'

9 December 2015

Conservative party chairman Lord Feldman was warned about alleged bullying in the Conservative Party's youth wing five years earlier than he has admitted, a former activist has claimed.

The activist, Patrick Sullivan, told BBC Newsnight that Feldman was given a 20-page dossier in 2010 detailing a culture of bullying and specifically naming Mark Clarke, who is at the heart of the so-called 'Tatler Tory' scandal.

Clarke, a leading figure in the party's youth wing, was expelled last month over allegations of bullying. The party has been under pressure to explain why he was allowed to work as director of its Road Trip 2015 campaign, despite complaints about his conduct as early as 2010.

Lord Feldman, Conservative party chairman and a close friend of Prime Minister David Cameron, has insisted that he was "wholly unaware" of any complaints before August 2015.

However, Sullivan said Feldman was given a dossier of allegations by Ben Howlett, now MP for Bath, five years ago.

"The dossier is not the only thing," said Sullivan. "There were complaints about Mark Clarke in 2008. So complaints about Mark Clarke had been something that Conservative Central Office have known about for a very long time."

Sullivan claims he was also bullied by Clarke, which left him feeling "depressed" and "isolated".

The bullying scandal has gathered pace since 21-year-old activist Elliott Johnson took his life in September after complaining about Clarke's behaviour.

Clarke has denied all allegations of bullying, as well as claims of sexual harassment and blackmail attempts, and said he was unaware of any dossier mentioning his name in 2010.

Last night, Lord Feldman said: "I was wholly unaware of allegations of bullying and inappropriate sexual conduct by Mr Clarke prior to August 2015.

"Such behaviour is abhorrent to me and had this been brought to my attention I would have taken immediate action to investigate, as I have done since I received the complaint in August 2015."

Senior Tories meet over alleged Mark Clarke bullying scandal

30 November

Senior Tories are meeting today to discuss an alleged bullying scandal within the party, following the resignation of minister Grant Shapps.

Mark Clarke, a leading figure in the party's youth wing, was expelled earlier this month over allegations of bullying. This came after a 21-year-old activist, Elliott Johnson, took his life in September after complaining about Clarke's behaviour.

Clarke denies any wrongdoing, but the party has been under pressure to explain why he was allowed to work as director of the Road Trip 2015 campaign, despite complaints about his conduct as early as 2010.

Shapps – who was party co-chairman from 2012 to 2015 – resigned from his role as international development minister over the weekend after The Guardian provided evidence to show that he had been warned about Clarke's behaviour.

Concerns have also been raised about the independence of a party inquiry into the allegations, with growing pressure on Lord Feldman, who has been party chairman or co-chairman since 2010.

Lord Feldman, who was one of four senior officials to sign off on Clarke's official involvement in the Tory election campaign, will chair today's meeting to discuss the allegations, says The Guardian.

Feldman is said to be among at least 40 witnesses in the party's investigation, but will not have any oversight role: it will be carried out by Conservative officials, and audited by Clifford Chance. But the inquiry staff "will still ultimately report to Feldman", says the newspaper.

Elliot Johnson's father, Roy, has called on Feldman to resign over his handling of the affair. However, the party has issued a statement saying that Feldman continues to have the full confidence of the Prime Minister. It has called on anyone with information regarding the allegations to come forward.

Tatler Tory scandal: 'toxic row' over alleged bully Mark Clarke

24 November

An "increasingly toxic row" is said to be brewing in Tory circles over Mark Clarke, a leading figure of the party's youth wing who was expelled last week over allegations of bullying.

Elliott Johnson, a 21-year-old activist, took his life in September after previously complaining that Clarke had bullied him. The party's disciplinary committee is still investigating and last week 38-year-old Clarke was expelled from the party for life.

The Conservatives have been under "mounting pressure" to explain why Clarke was allowed to work as director of the Road Trip 2015 campaign, which involved bussing hundreds of young activists to Tory target seats across the country, reports the BBC.

Clarke was given the role despite being struck off the list of approved Tory candidates following a number of complaints about his behaviour when he unsuccessfully stood for election in the south London constituency of Tooting in 2010.

One former activist claimed on Newsnight that Clarke had sexually harassed and then threatened her, telling her he had a dossier of information on her sex life. He was also accused of trying to blackmail cabinet minister Robert Halfon over an affair with a Tory activist, to which Halfon has since admitted.

Clarke, once tipped by Tatler magazine as a possible future cabinet minister, has "strongly" refuted any suggestion of bullying, harassment, assault or attempted blackmail.

In what The Times describes as "an increasingly toxic row", former Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps has been singled out for integrating Clarke's Road Trip 2015 into the official Tory campaign, in spite of his behaviour in 2010.

But sources close to Shapps said he had simply been told that Clarke was a "difficult candidate" and was unaware of the more serious allegations.

According to Newsnight, party co-chairman Lord Feldman, election chief Lynton Crosby and deputy chairman Stephen Gilbert were also on the board that agreed to appoint Clarke and fund his campaign. Feldman, a long-time friend of Prime Minister David Cameron, has said he was unaware of the "abhorrent" bullying and sexual harassment claims.

Writing in The Guardian, Michael White says the "Tatler Tory" debacle has "all the makings of a classic political scandal". Says White: "This latest addition to the long list of infamy does politics no good, but the arguments over who is to blame will be a distraction for a while longer yet."