The former chief of staff to Grant Shapps has been criticised for scheduling a seminar in which he will celebrate the success of a Conservative campaign linked to the bullying scandal engulfing the party.

Paul Abbott, who worked for Shapps when he was party chairman, is to hold an event in London next month to discuss Team2015, the campaign initiative that funded and oversaw a controversial project run by the election aide Mark Clarke.

Clarke has been accused of intimidating, groping and attempting to blackmail activists during the RoadTrip2015 campaign, which transported young Tories around the country to support the Conservative party in the general election. Clarke has denied any wrongdoing.

His alleged behaviour came to light after the young activist Elliott Johnson, who attended RoadTrip socials, apparently killed himself after calling Clarke a bully in a note left before his death.

Elliott Johnson and Tory bullying claims – timeline Read more

Elliott’s father, Ray Johnson, said it was insensitive of Abbott who, as the chief executive of the pressure group Conservative Way Forward, was Elliott’s former employer, to celebrate the success of Team2015.

Johnson said: “It seems insensitive to be celebrating the success of Team2015 when Mark Clarke’s RoadTrip played such a significant part in it, when serious allegations against Clarke are currently being investigated and when Clarke has already been banned for life by the Conservative party.

“It also seems strange that while Mr Abbott is doing his utmost to distance himself from Clarke, at the same time he is talking about the success of Team2015.

“I hope his talk will also include the hard lessons learned by Team2015 – the culture of sex, booze, drugs and bullying that culminated in Elliott’s death. The question that many parents will want answered is how will their children be protected against the older bullies in the party.”

Abbott has previously said that complaints were first made against Clarke in 2014. Some activists have asked why, if this were the case, he allowed Clarke to run RoadTrip until the general election in May.

One activist, who made an official complaint against Clarke, told the Guardian: “How does one reconcile the concept of success with a campaign structure that not only facilitated the abuse of young activists but also ensured that a steady stream of serious complaints were never heard?

“How can anyone with a conscience define involvement as personal success when that involved ignoring alleged criminal behaviour and the welfare of dozens of activists?”

Abbott has been approached by the Guardian for comment.

Elliott was made redundant by Abbott a few weeks before he died. After only two months in his role as political editor, Elliott was told that Conservative Way Forward could not afford to keep him on and would employ him part time to look after social media.

Elliott Johnson: the young Tory destroyed by the party he loved Read more

The revelations come after Elliot’s parents said they believed an internally organised Conservative party investigation into alleged bullying was biased, and their solicitor raised concerns about a “lack of independence and transparency”.

Refusing to take part in the investigation, Johnson said: “As each day passes, we believe it becomes clearer that Tory HQ is complicit in a cover-up to protect its chairman, regardless of the damage it has caused to its youth wing. The party has cleansed its youth wing; the question is now, who will move to cleanse Tory HQ itself?”

In recent weeks, pressure has mounted on the Conservative chairman, Lord Feldman, over how much he knew about the extent of bullying within the party. Feldman has insisted that complaints were not brought to his attention until August.

Shapps has already resigned from a junior ministerial position over his handling of the allegations against Clarke, saying “the buck should stop with me”.

Johnson added: “We have never accepted Lord Feldman’s position that he was ‘wholly unaware’ of Clarke’s behaviour until August – not unless he was deaf, dumb and blind.

“We believe Feldman and other senior officials were fully aware of Clarke’s past, but were prepared to allow him to direct the party’s campaign and risk the safety of young activists used as mere fodder to achieve electoral success.”