The Boris Johnson era is ending. What about Westminster sleaze culture?
- Era of scandal-ridden Boris Johnson coming to end after his own party ministers pushed him to resign as prime minister
- Johnson’s knowledge about sexual misconduct allegations against a Conservative MP proved one scandal too many
Boris Johnson’s downfall as Britain’s prime minister came after he defiantly survived numerous scandals and missteps during three years in office. The final straw involved a Tory MP who drunkenly groped two men at a private club.
Chris Pincher was deputy chief whip for the Conservative Party before he quit his post in disgrace last week. Other past allegations about Pincher then emerged, and that Johnson knew about them in 2019, but still appointed him in February this year.
Support for Johnson quickly collapsed after he offered inconsistent narratives, and finally an apology for not remembering allegations about Pincher.
“Them’s the breaks,” Johnson said, refusing to admit his mistakes.
Pincher’s was at least the sixth publicly reported scandal involving the alleged sexual misconduct of an MP in the Johnson government. It again highlighted the underbelly of British politics, which has a history of sleaze scandals including those of sexual nature.
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There are 56 MPs, both Conservative and Labour, being investigated by the UK Parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, which handles complaints of bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct.
“There’s plenty of evidence to show that the problem is nothing new,” Christina Julios, author of the recently published book Sexual Harassment in the UK Parliament, told South China Morning Post.
Julios said successive investigations have consistently shown that parliamentary staff had experienced sexual harassment, abuse of power and bullying at work.
“Recent media headlines have drawn renewed attention to the issue of sexual misconduct in politics, particularly within the current British government, but we know the problem is endemic across the whole political spectrum, as well as legislatures elsewhere,” she said.
Julios said that because of the often hidden nature of workplace sexual misconduct and abuse, together with persistent low reporting rates, “we only have underestimates of the scale of the problem, and simply don’t know what its true extent is”.
According to parliamentary trade unions, both sexes are victims, and are typically younger staff on short-term contracts. They are also hesitant about speaking out.
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The unions, along with a growing number of women MPs, want to see a crackdown on sexual harassment in Westminster.
“Political parties of all stripes have proved time and time again that they cannot be trusted to deal properly with sexual misconduct by one of their own,” the leaders of the two main unions in Westminster wrote in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle.
“If the parties will not act, then parliament must, by taking a zero-tolerance approach to sexual misconduct by MPs and by taking seriously its responsibility to provide a safe workplace for those working there.”
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Pincher, 52, apologised for his incident, which happened after he had drunk “far too much” and had “embarrassed myself and other people” at the private members Carlton Club in central London last month.
One of the alleged victims, a man in his 20s, “froze” when Pincher put his hand on his groin, according to his testimony that was read out by opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer in Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this week.
“When I was prosecuting rapists, I heard that from victims all the time,” Starmer, a former head of the Crown Prosecution Service, told a sheepish looking Johnson. “Victims said they froze because it’s not about sex, it’s about power.”
At least one of the men was an MP, Sky News reported.
It was also the second time Pincher quit the whip’s office. He resigned as a junior whip in 2017 after a complaint that he made an unwanted pass at a male former Olympic rower.
Pincher remained suspended as a Conservative MP as more reports emerged this week about his past alleged behaviour.
Complaints were made to police about two alleged incidents, one in London between 2010 and 2012, and Staffordshire in 2019. No action was taken by police.
Also, Daniel Cook, the deputy mayor of the local council in the English town of Tamworth, Pincher’s constituency, told Channel 4 News that Pincher groped him in 2005 and 2006. Cook said Pincher turned up at his house in 2005 drunk and “cupped his hand around my genitals”.
Pincher denied Cook’s allegations.
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The Conservative Party lost both seats in by-elections last month.
Another Conservative MP, David Warburton, is under investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct towards three women, which he denies.
An unnamed Conservative MP was arrested in May on suspicion of serious sexual offences, including rape. The alleged offences occurred between 2002 and 2009, and police have granted the MP bail.
In 2020, Charlie Elphicke, the former Conservative MP for Dover was jailed for sexually assaulting two women.
Last year, a family court judge concluded that Conservative MP Kate Griffiths had been repeatedly raped by Andrew Griffiths, her former husband who previously held her West Midlands parliamentary seat.
Andrew Griffiths resigned from the government in 2018 for sending many sexually explicit messages to two female constituents.
Additional reporting by Reuters
