Despite claims by the Conservative party there were no historic allegations of bullying against former party manager Mark Clarke, a leaked email suggests the problem had been ongoing longer than thought.
Mark Clarke was expelled from the Conservative party this week, having been previously suspended over allegations he had played a part in bullying party activist Elliott Johnson, who committed suicide in September. 21-year-old Elliott left a suicide note detailing bullying within the Conservative party, and it is understood Mr. Clarke was named within the letter.
The Conservative party had claimed this week there were no complaints about the conduct of Mr. Clarke before August, who has now been named publicly as having engaged in harassment and sexual bullying. Now a leaked email obtained by The Sun newspaper has revealed this was not the case — and it now seems to complaints go back more than a year.
The new email, which has been characterised as the “smoking gun” in the bullying claims was sent by senior Tory Paul Abbott to Clarke as they quarrelled over who could take the credit for helping win the May general election. Reminding Mr. Clarke of the trouble Conservative Central Office had gone to in dealing with the trouble he left in his wake, Mr. Abbott wrote:
“I did have to do quite a lot of ‘corralling’ as well, even if you don’t remember it now! This included for example dealing with all the complaints made about RoadTrip and your behaviour — from Associations, young activists, MPs/candidates, and so forth”.
Confirming Central Office had been dealing with complaints about Clarke since before the general election, the email has blown away the Conservative’s denial this week there has been any trouble before August. Mr. Abbott told the newspaper he himself had launched a complaint about Mr. Clarke as far back as 2014 in conjunction with “young people who Clarke tried to blackmail or threaten. He is an appalling man”.
The news of Mr. Clarke’s expulsion from the party and the confirmation of historical allegations of abuse follow news this week of his blackmailing fellow party members to influence the much sought-after candidate selection process. One activist told Breitbart London: “He was threatening young women, claiming that he could influence the Conservative Party’s selection process and candidates list”.