Monica Lennon says incident happened in front of six people, and one joked she should not have got alleged assailant ‘all excited’

The controversy over Labour’s handling of harassment incidents deepened further after Monica Lennon, a Scottish Labour MSP, said senior party figures had belittled and glossed over an incident where a powerful official had assaulted her in front of colleagues.

Lennon, a rising star at Holyrood, said the incident happened at a Labour party social event in 2013, before she was elected to the Scottish parliament. She told the Sunday Mail newspaper the assault happened in full view of six people.

“One witness, who at the time was a Labour politician, joked to everyone in earshot: ‘That’s your fault for coming over here and getting him all excited,’” she said. Although her anxieties about the alleged assailant’s conduct grew after further events, Lennon said she did not feel able to complain officially because she felt he was too powerful for her complaints to be successful.

Her disclosures have added to the disquiet at Holyrood after a Scottish National party MSP, Mark McDonald, resigned as the children’s and young persons minister after admitting his behaviour in the past “might have made others uncomfortable or led them to question” his intentions.

No details about these incidents has yet been disclosed, or who has complained. The SNP has confirmed it is still investigating a complaint against another party member, not another MSP.

The Sunday Post reported there was another case, involving an informal complaint by a Holyrood clerk against the SNP MSP Willie Coffey, who is alleged to have used inappropriate language and unsolicited attention. That case did not lead to a formal investigation, but Coffey denied any wrongdoing. A spokesman said the MSP “does not recognise the claims that are being made about his behaviour”.