Theresa May has ordered an investigation into allegations that her deputy, Damian Green, made inappropriate advances to a female activist in the last two years.

Kate Maltby, who is 30 years younger than Green, the first secretary of state, told the Times he had “fleetingly” touched her knee during a meeting in a Waterloo pub in 2015 and sent her a “suggestive” text message after she was pictured wearing a corset in the newspaper.

Green, one of May’s closest political allies, said any allegation that he made sexual advances to Maltby was “untrue [and] deeply hurtful”.

One Tory MP has called for Green to be suspended while the allegations are investigated. Green is the most senior politician yet to be caught up in a wave of allegations and rumours relating to sexual harassment and abuse swirling around Westminster.

Labour has launched an independent inquiry into claims that the activist Bex Bailey was discouraged by a party official from reporting an alleged rape at a Labour event in 2011 on the grounds it might damage her political career.

And in a separate case, a woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by an MP on a foreign work trip last year has said her allegations were not taken seriously.



Maltby, 31, said that 61-year-old Green was an old friend of her parents whom she had approached for advice after becoming involved in Conservative activism.

When they met for drinks, she said he suggested he could help her start a political career, before turning the conversation to the subject of affairs at Westminster.



Maltby said that he mentioned that his own wife was “very understanding” and she then “felt a fleeting hand against my knee – so brief it was almost deniable”.



Angered by the incident, Maltby had no further contact with Green until he sent her a text message a year later saying he had “admired [her] in a corset” and inviting her for a drink.

Writing in the Times, she said she renewed contact with Green after his appointment to the cabinet, but doubted he knew how “awkward, embarrassed and professionally compromised” she felt about the alleged incident.

Green said it was “absolutely and completely untrue that I’ve ever made any sexual advances on Ms Maltby”.

He is understood to have instructed lawyers to dispute Maltby’s allegations.

In his statement, Green added: “I have known Ms Maltby since she contacted me as board member of Bright Blue, the Conservative thinktank, in 2014, and we have had a drink as friends twice-yearly.

“The text I sent after she appeared in a newspaper article was sent in that spirit – as two friends agreeing to meet for a regular catchup – and nothing more. This untrue allegation has come as a complete shock and is deeply hurtful, especially from someone I considered a personal friend.”



May has proposed an independent mediation service for staff wanting to raise concerns about MPs’ behaviour and enforcing a grievance procedure overseen by MPs that is currently voluntary.



However, a number of MPs are pressing for tougher action, including an independent body to police the conduct of politicians similar to the Independent Standards Authority, which acts as the watchdog for expenses.

May’s chief whip, Gavin Williamson, made a rare public statement to the Express & Star, his local newspaper, on Tuesday saying it was for police to investigate anything wrong or illegal alleged to have been done by MPs.

A Downing Street spokesman confirmed that May had asked the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, to “establish the facts and report back as soon as possible”.



Anna Soubry, the Tory backbencher and former minister, said Green should step down while the allegations are investigated.

Speaking to Sky News she said: “It is a serious allegation, because to me as an old criminal barrister it looks like a pattern of behaviour, it is difficult to believe it would be the first time.”

She added: “In normal circumstances that person would be suspended … I’m not saying I wouldn’t want to work with [Green, but] I would want it cleared up. Personally I would say there’s an investigation, by some mechanism you stand out, you remove yourself from this position until the conclusion of that investigation. That is what I would do, but I sometimes see things rather differently because I have worked in other job situations.”

She added: “There will be a reason why he is still there, it may be his own conscience. Is he placed in a difficult position? Yes he is.”

Soubry denied May had shown weak leadership over the issue. But she said the allegations against Green showed why it was necessary for both parliament and political parties to put in place new procedures to allow alleged victims to report abuse.

She said: “All I’m asking for is that political parties and parliament use exactly the same standards that workers are subject to and businesses put into place. We should not be any different; in fact we should be bigger and better.”

The Labour MP Jess Phillips said the Conservatives should the suspend former cabinet minister Stephen Crabb after he admitted sending “sexual chatter” to a 19-year-old woman who hoped to work for him.

Speaking to Sky News she said: “Jeremy Corbyn did remove the whip from somebody with a misdemeanour, so far Theresa May has not shown that leadership. I have to say I’m a bit disappointed in that regard. I think personally that Stephen Crabb shouldn’t be walking around Westminster at the moment.”

