One of Boris Johnson’s close allies, Chris Pincher, has been suspended as a Conservative MP and will be investigated by the parliamentary complaints watchdog after allegations he groped two men while drunk.
Pincher, who resigned as deputy chief whip on Thursday, was reported to the independent grievance and complaints scheme, which looks into allegations of misconduct by MPs.
The referral prompted the chief whip, Chris Heaton-Harris, to suspend his former deputy after almost 24 hours of pressure on Johnson to act against Pincher.
Since the MP’s suspension, the spotlight has turned on what the Prime Minister knew about the allegations against Pincher, who had previously resigned from the whip’s office in 2017 following allegations he made unwanted advances at a fellow Tory and behaved like “Harvey Weinstein”. He was acquitted of wrongdoing in a party investigation.
On Friday, the prime minister’s official spokesman denied he was aware of “specific” allegations before appointing him as deputy chief whip in February.
However, a Number 10 source admitted Johnson was “probably” aware of the rumors surrounding the MP’s sexual behaviour, while downplaying the seriousness of the latest allegations as “pinching someone’s ass”.
The government admitted the cabinet’s integrity and ethics team had investigated Pincher’s suitability before he was promoted to a role responsible for the discipline and pastoral care of MPs, but said it could not block any appointment based on “unsupported rumours”.
The sixth scandal involving alleged sexual misconduct by a Johnson government MP erupted on Thursday after the Sun reported that Pincher allegedly drunkenly groped two men at the Carlton Club in Piccadilly, London.
The deputy chief whip, who was instrumental in keeping Johnson prime minister earlier this year, wrote to the prime minister saying he was resigning because he had “embarrassed himself”, but No 10 initially said there was no need to remove the whip as he had done took charge.
Senior Tories, including former ministers Caroline Noakes and Karen Bradley, called for the whip to be withdrawn and the allegations to be investigated, while Neil Parrish, who resigned as a Tory MP after viewing porn in the House of Commons, accused the Prime Minister of “double-dealing standards” in his own treatment compared to Pincher.
Bradley and Noakes, both chairmen of select committees, wrote to Johnson on Friday urging him to introduce “zero tolerance” for cases of sexual misconduct, adding that the whip should be withdrawn while thorough investigations are carried out into each case. They also called for a code of conduct for Conservative members.
Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, accused Johnson of being “dragged kicking and screaming to take any action”.
“He just can’t be trusted to do the right thing. This whole scandal is further evidence of his appalling judgment,” she said.
The independent complaints process will be conducted confidentially. However, multiple sources told the Guardian that the whips were aware of allegations of previous sexual misconduct by Pincher.
A Tory MP said other ministers and backbenchers had stepped up in recent months to carry out welfare checks on colleagues because “no one had any confidence that victims could seriously go to the whips’ office to report inappropriate behavior,” given the previous complaint against Pincher.
Two Conservative MPs also said Pincher was responsible for the abuse of MPs. Pincher was accused by a senior Tory MP of repeated harassment and veiled threats of blackmail. “He and his shadow whipping operation were the mastermind behind this type of activity,” the MP said.
Another Tory MP said: “He considers himself a master of the black arts… The only reason the Prime Minister stuck with him is because he has more harmful things than the damage he does to the party.”
Others speculated that Johnson was desperate for Pincher not to lose the whip or quit as an MP in case he faced another vote of no confidence.
There was much disgust at Number 10’s initial lack of interest in Pincher’s behavior, apart from his admission of drunkenness. “He’s resigned as if he’s had too many sherberts,” lamented a senior player on the back bench.
Of course, the whips’ office says it has had no formal complaints of sexual misconduct or harassment in relation to Pincher and is of the position that it does not act on unsubstantiated claims, hearsay or hearsay.
The incident comes after a group of Tory officials wrote to the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party complaining that serious sexual assault, harassment and harassment allegations made against MPs were being treated as “mere gossip”. The group of staff working for Tory MPs said “behaviour carried out by a few individuals but tolerated by others has tarnished the reputation” of parliament.
The Pincher affair follows a series of incidents involving allegations of sexual misconduct by MPs, including a Tory MP who was arrested on suspicion of rape and had his whip removed.
Imran Ahmad Khan, the Conservative MP for Wakefield, was found guilty in April of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy after dousing him with gin at a party. Khan attacked the boy in Staffordshire in January 2008, 11 years before he became an MP. He resigned as an MP two weeks after being found guilty.
Parrish, the Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton, also stood down in April after admitting watching porn on his phone in the House of Commons, with the party subsequently losing its overwhelming majority in the seat to the Liberal Democrats.
Another Conservative MP, David Warburton, lost the whip after the Sunday Times reported he was facing allegations from three women.
Warburton, 56, was accused by one of the women of getting into bed with her naked. She told the newspaper that she repeatedly warned that she did not want to have sex with him, but she claims he pressed his body against her and groped her breasts.
He is said to have denied any wrongdoing and said he had “huge amounts of protection but unfortunately the way things work means it doesn’t come out first”.
Only one conservative appeared to rally to Pincher’s defense on Friday. Peter Bottomley, the longest-serving MP, said in a message to colleagues on WhatsApp that he hoped “Pincher will be back in government soon”. The government said Pincher had been replaced as deputy chief whip by Kelly Tolhurst.
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