Charlie Elphicke has whip suspended and Clive Lewis accused of groping as Theresa May draws up Tory code of conduct

The Conservatives and Labour have both faced fresh claims about the behaviour of their MPs hours after Theresa May unveiled a new party code of conduct guaranteeing an independent voice in investigations of abuse and harassment.



The Conservative whip was withdrawn from the Dover MP Charlie Elphicke following what were described as serious allegations that had been passed to the police.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charlie Elphicke, who has had the Conservative whip suspended. Photograph: Rick Findler/PA

In a brief statement released by the party on Friday evening, Julian Smith, the Conservative chief whip, said: “I have suspended the Conservative party whip from Charlie Elphicke MP following serious allegations that have been referred to the police.”

There was no detail about the nature of the claim. Elphicke said in a tweet he had not been told about the allegations and denied any wrongdoing, and said he had learned the news after it was released to the media.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Clive Lewis has denied an allegation that he groped a woman at the party conference. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

For Labour, the MP and former frontbencher Clive Lewis denied claims he groped a woman at an event during the party conference in September. A party statement said: “The Labour party is investigating a formal complaint made today against Clive Lewis.”

It is understood that the allegations, made by a party member, are that Lewis grasped the woman’s bottom as he gave her a tight hug. The alleged incident is supposed to have happened at an event connected to The World Transformed, a series of gatherings organised in parallel to the Labour conference in Brighton, run by the Jeremy Corbyn-supporting group Momentum.

A source close to Lewis said that while he accepted the need for an independent investigation and would cooperate, he completely rejected the allegation.

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He told the BBC: “I don’t as a rule at packed Labour party conferences grope people’s bottoms when I greet them. It’s just not how I roll, it’s not what I do. Is the person mistaken? Have I given them a hug and this has been misinterpreted? I don’t know.”

Following the resignation of Michael Fallon as defence secretary after claims of inappropriate language or behaviour, with Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, among the complainants, there were reports another woman had accused him of groping her.

The Tory MP Anna Soubry, who was a junior defence minister under Fallon, said the woman had approached No 10 with a complaint of sexual assault.

The Sun reported a similar claim, and Fallon told the Times that, while he accepted he had “behaved inappropriately in the past”, he had never physically assaulted anyone.

The new Conservative code of conduct was revealed by May in a letter to the Speaker of the Commons, John Bercow, about her party’s plans to tackle the issue.



While parties had a role to play, she said: “It cannot be right when dealing with serious issues relating to behaviour in parliament that vulnerable or concerned people are expected to navigate different grievance procedures according to political party.

“Neither can it be right that such difficult issues themselves are dealt with on a party political basis, or that no support should be provided for those with no political or party affiliation.”

The new code applies to MPs, peers, MEPs, members of the Scottish, Welsh and London assemblies, police and crime commissioners, elected mayors, councillors and party officials.

It compels them to “take reasonable steps” to ensure those who want to complain about harassment, bullying or discrimination are able to do so. There is an email address and phone number to which complaints can be made.

Harassment is defined as “any unwanted physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive situation or environment for them”.

The code states that inquiries should be conducted by a panel of three or more people, at least one of whom should be independent of the Conservatives.

Corbyn separately faced pressure to explain why he put Kelvin Hopkins in his shadow cabinet last year, after a young party activist had formally expressed concerns about his behaviour.

Hopkins, the Luton North MP, remains suspended from Labour pending an investigation into claims he acted inappropriately and sent suggestive texts. On Friday night, Hopkins said he “absolutely and categorically’’ denied allegations of inappropriate conduct.



Ava Etemadzadeh, 27, who complained to party whips about three years ago, said she was deeply disappointed when Hopkins was made shadow culture secretary last year, a post he held for three months. It is understood she had complained about inappropriate texts, and that the then-chief whip Rosie Winterton reprimanded Hopkins and told Corbyn’s office.

Labour has said it suspended Hopkins following new allegations. Etemadzadeh told the Telegraph that Hopkins hugged her very tightly and rubbed himself against her at a Labour event in 2013.

She told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One that while her complaint was taken seriously by Winterton, it was ignored by Corbyn’s office. “I’m very disillusioned because just a few months later I realised that Jeremy Corbyn had promoted Kelvin Hopkins to the shadow cabinet despite the fact that the leader’s office was aware of this,” she said.

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Labour’s new code says complaints should be reviewed by a panel appointed by the national executive committee. Jasmin Beckett, who represents Young Labour on the NEC, wrote to Corbyn complaining that the code “makes no attempt to look at the possibility of an independent body to deal with sensitive complaints going forward”. In a later announcement, Labour said the independent specialist organisation would offer support, and support complaints through the party’s procedures.

The Labour party said it had appointed a QC, Karon Monaghan, to investigate its handling of the case of Bex Bailey, a young party activist who said she was raped by a senior party member and was then discouraged by a party official from reporting it.































