Have the Conservatives got a sexual harassment problem?

Critics are demanding to know why the Conservative Party did not suspend David Warburton immediately after whips were warned weeks ago of “untoward behaviour” by the MP towards female staff.

The MP for Somerton and Frome is being investigated by parliamentary officials after two women who worked in his office made formal complaints about him. A photo has also emerged appearing to show Warburton sitting near what appear to be lines of cocaine.

According to The Sunday Times, one woman is claiming that the 56-year-old married father of two would not leave her home and that, “despite her repeated and explicit warnings… that she did not want to have sex with him or do anything sexual”, he “allegedly ground his body against hers and groped her breasts”.

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Accusations from two other women – both former aides – have been handed to the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS), the new parliamentary harassment watchdog. Neither felt comfortable addressing Warburton’s conduct with party officials “as his wife was overseeing HR matters”, said The Times.

Now the party is facing criticism for waiting to suspend Warburton, despite an unnamed MP warning whips about his behaviour and urging them to “keep an eye on him” several weeks ago. An unnamed staff member also separately raised similar concerns with party whips.

Warburton has now had the party whip suspended and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital on Sunday.

History of mishandling complaints

This is not the first time that the Conservative Party has been accused of mishandling internal allegations of sexual misconduct.

Last month, Politico reported that the party had failed to inform a member of No. 10 staff that he was barred from involvement in the most recent Tory general election campaign following an accusation that he had groped a woman at the party’s annual conference.

The unnamed individual, who has always denied the allegation, was “told informally that he had been cleared” but was never informed that he had been barred from the campaign “as he had not sought a role”, reported the site.

“The victim in this circumstance thinks action has been taken and [the accused] thinks he’s been completely cleared,” said Caroline Nokes, the Conservative chair of the House of Commons women and equalities committee.

“It’s not helping people to come forward in future with their allegations if they don’t have confidence that there is going to be a rigorous process that is followed properly.”

A wider problem?

There are several other examples of similar Conservative Party failings, including the decision to restore the party membership of MP Rob Roberts last October, following his 12-week suspension for sexually harassing a former member of his staff.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner described the Tories’ decision to temporarily suspend, rather than remove, Roberts from the party as a “disgrace” and said he had “no place” in “Parliament, politics or public life”.

The Tories were also criticised over the case of Charlie Elphicke, the former party whip and MP for Dover who was suspended from the party in 2017 following allegations of sexual assault. Many were shocked when Elphicke’s Conservative Party suspension was rescinded “on the eve of a make-or-break confidence vote in Theresa May’s premiership, meaning he could participate”, reported The Times.

In 2020, Elphicke was sentenced to two years in jail, with the judge describing him as a “sexual predator” who used his “success and respectability as a cover”.

And last week, a man said he was sexually assaulted by Imran Ahmad Khan, the suspended MP for Wakefield in West Yorkshire, back in 2008, when he was 15 years old. The alleged victim told Southwark Crown Court that he contacted the Conservative Party at the time but “wasn’t taken very seriously”, reported The Guardian. Khan denies the charge.

Internal complaints

The claims against Warburton are a “depressing sign of how little may have changed” over the years, said The Sunday Times. The complaints process urgently needs to be “reinforced and simplified so those bringing their concerns for consideration can be confident of a fair and quick resolution”.

But dealing with serious complaints about a member of a political party internally will always be “problematic”, Anne Milton, a former Tory deputy chief whip, told Politico. “Parties must be able to reassure potential victims that their allegations will be investigated outside the structure of the organisation.”

Writing for the i news site, former parliamentary assistant Becky Paton emphasised how difficult it can be for junior staff or “anyone hoping for a future career in parliament” to make an allegation against a party member.

“They are told by those within their own party that they risk their career if they raise complaints,” she explained. “Even for those that do speak out, often little action is taken against the accused and their experience is written off as nothing more than a ‘political inconvenience’ for party press officers to bat off in the media.

“The political treatment of alleged victims of sexual misconduct in Westminster should concern us all.”