Presence of CCHQ advisers hints at party effort to quash moves to force out disgraced former minister

The future of the disgraced former minister Andrew Griffiths will be discussed by his constituency members in front of officials from the Conservative party’s central offices, a leaked email discloses.



The presence of advisers from Conservative Campaign Headquarters [CCHQ] at a special general meeting of East Staffordshire Conservative Association is unusual and will raise suspicions that the party wants to damp down internal moves to force him to stand down.



Theresa May has struggled to force through Brexit legislation over the past month and may well need the vote of a party loyalist such as Griffiths, who is MP for Burton.

Griffiths, the prime minister’s former chief of staff who resigned as a minister after sending hundreds of sexually explicit messages to two women, has also been accused of having bullied a council leader for several years when May took office in July 2016.



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An email sent to local activists on Friday night by by Conor Wileman, the chair of East Staffordshire Conservative Association, asked members to attend a special general meeting on 6 August. “The only business that can be considered at this meeting is as follows: The conduct of Andrew Griffiths MP,” he wrote. “CCHQ representatives will be present, who can advise on the options open to us as a Constituency Association.”

The 47-year-old stood down as minister for small business last weekend after it emerged he had sent more than 2,000 texts, many of them sexually aggressive, to two bar workers more than 20 years his junior.



The Guardian revealed last week that Griffiths was promoted to minister for small business in January despite being under investigation over allegations of inappropriate touching and bullying by Deneice Florence-Jukes, a former Tory borough councillor, who had filed a formal complaint three months earlier.



More than 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for Griffiths to step down and a demonstration is planned in his constituency next month. Many in his own party have refused to publicly back him as concerns about his past conduct have become public.

Wileman’s email also refers to Conservative party claims that an “independent” panel is considering the harassment and bullying allegations against Griffiths.



Andrew Griffiths should resign as MP, says local Tory chair Read more

“They [the CCHQ officials] will also update the meeting on the independent QC-led investigation that Andrew referred himself to,” Wileman wrote.

One senior member of the East Staffordshire Conservative Association said: “Some members have told me they are so disgusted by Griffiths they won’t even bother turning up as they don’t want to even see him.”



The Conservative party code of conduct says that unless the investigating officer dismisses the claims at the first stage of a complaint, a panel of three people – including one person independent of the party – must look at the facts.

If appropriate, the complaint may then be referred by the chairman to the leader or to the board of the Conservative party, who can expel or suspend a member.