Guardian obtains letter written to Grant Shapps in January demanding action against Mark Clarke, contradicting claims party leaders had not been told

Conservative party claims that they were not properly told about the behaviour of a controversial election aide later accused of bullying an activist who is believed to have killed himself have been contradicted by the uncovering of a letter sent to the then party chairman eight months before the death.

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

Sayeeda Warsi wrote to Grant Shapps, her successor as party chairman, in January to demand that action be taken against Mark Clarke, a youth organiser for the party, who allegedly bullied 21-year-old political blogger Elliott Johnson before he killed himself in September.

Her letter, dated 20 January, accuses Clarke of publicly abusing her on Twitter and says: “I look forward to hearing from you as to what action you intend to take against … Mr Clarke”.



Lady Warsi told the Guardian she never received a “satisfactory response” to her complaint and said Clarke, who was the Conservative party candidate for Tooting in the 2010 election, was “a disaster waiting to happen and this was common knowledge”.



Johnson, a blogger for a Tory pressure group, was found dead on railway tracks on 15 September. He named Clarke as a bully in a letter written before he is believed to have killed himself. Clarke and others are claimed to have leant on him to withdraw a complaint and threatened to ruin his career.

Clarke, who has denied all the allegations against him, said: “I have nothing further to add to my previous statements on Elliott Johnson as I am waiting to speak to the coroner. But I deny any wrongdoing.”

Warsi said: “During my time as chairman, Mark Clarke was never involved in any initiative that I was involved in or in any campaigning. He was effectively persona non grata, as far as I was concerned.”

Earlier this month, the Conservative party said it had not received any written complaints about Clarke. “We have been checking and rechecking, but have not been able to find any records of written complaints that were made but not dealt with – but we are determined to get to the bottom of what’s happened,” the party said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Elliott Johnson (fourth from left) with Jane Hunt, Conservative candidate for South Nottingham (third from left), and David Cameron. Photograph: Family photo

Evidence that Clarke had been subject to a written complaint as early as January will increase pressure on the party to reveal who knew Clarke had been the subject of complaints over his behaviour, which allegedly included sexual assaults against female activists, attempted blackmail and intimidation of young supporters.

Johnson’s father, Ray, and the Tory MP Ben Howlett have said the current party chairman, Lord Andrew Feldman, must also have been aware of the accusations about Clarke. Reports about Clarke dating to 2008 also suggest David Cameron was at least aware of complaints about the aide’s character.

The revelation that Warsi had complained about Clarke forms part of an exposé of the breadth of the scandal engulfing the Conservative party. It includes:

Claims that on the day Johnson was found dead, Clarke was due to meet Conservative officials to hear the allegations made against him.

A series of leaked Facebook posts in which Johnson reveals he felt intimidated by demands from Conservative Campaign headquarters (CCHQ) that he attend an investigation into Clarke.

An exclusive interview with a Tory activist who claims he was left “distraught” after being subjected to an alleged blackmail plot, in which he was filmed performing a sex act.

Clarke most recently acted as a director of the Road Trip 2015 campaign, which involved battle buses touring the country to rally support for the Conservatives.



Named by Johnson in a note discovered after his death as one of his tormentors, Clarke was suspended immediately, while two of his associates, Sam Armstrong and Andre Walker, were banned from the Tory party conference. After an internal inquiry by CCHQ, Clarke was expelled for life from the party last week.

Johnson’s death has triggered an explosive chain of events which has seen whistleblowers come forward and reveal a wide-ranging number of political figures – some young, some senior – as being tangled up in sleaze and scandal.

Lady Warsi letter warning Tory party chair Grant Shapps of bullying by aide Read more

Warsi claims she felt Clarke’s wrath when he attempted to troll her on Twitter, implying she was an antisemite. She had attended a fundraising event in January, after which a local Conservative member accused her of making anti-Israel comments in a speech.

In her letter to Shapps Warsi said “the matter was made worse by your colleague Mark Clarke” who had accused her on Twitter of “slagging off the Jewish Tory party chairman”.

“I raised my own concerns about Clarke with Grant Shapps and never received a satisfactory response,” she told the Guardian.

Warsi said that when Shapps became chair he “got rid” of people with “huge corporate knowledge” and replaced them with the likes of Clarke, with whom he would have been familiar when he took up office as chairman of the party in September 2012.

“The chief of staff was culled, deputy chief of staff was culled, the person who did third ­party engagements was culled, the speech writer was culled, almost the whole team, and because of that the chairman’s office did leave themselves open to not having a great deal of corporate knowledge, knowledge that was useful but lost,” she said.

Among the allegations levelled at Clarke – it is understood more than 25 complainants have approached CCHQ – was a serious one of blackmail made by a Tory activist, who has spoken to the Guardian.

The 20-year-old, who wishes to remain anonymous, made a complaint to the party about Clarke’s behaviour after he allegedly pinned the man’s girlfriend to the wall during a Road Trip 2015 night out.

Three months later, the activist was befriended on Facebook by a French woman who quickly contacted him on Skype, stripped in front of him and persuaded him to perform a sex act. Soon afterwards he received a demand via Skype for €3,500 (£2,500) and was told that if he didn’t pay it the film would be posted on Facebook.

The demand was received four days after he went to CCHQ to give evidence against Clarke. “I was pretty distraught,” he told the Guardian. “Pretty annoyed at myself for letting it happen to me. It was a rough day.”

He said the Conservative party had failed to protect himself, Johnson and others. “I think they should have got rid of Clarke sooner,” he said. “People had complained beforehand. They should have started investigating rather than waiting.”

He said he had approached Kent police and alleged it was Clarke who set the sting up and blackmailed him. The constabulary is investigating the allegation, which Clarke denies.

Lord Feldman, the current chairman of the party, said he was first made aware of complaints against Clarke in August this year, a claim challenged by, among others, Ray Johnson and Howlett.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Elliott Johnson at his graduation with his parents. Photograph: Family photo

Dozens of photograph of Clarke with senior Tories have emerged; Cameron, Feldman, Shapps and Theresa May have all been pictured next to him.

Ray Johnson has previously said he believed the Tories named Shapps as Clarke’s recruiter and expelled Clarke from the party to deflect attention from more senior members of the party.

Cameron has yet to comment on Clarke and the wider scandal but earlier reports suggested the prime minister was aware of him when he was opposition leader.

An inquest into Johnson’s death is to be held in the new year, for which the British Transport police are compiling a dossier of evidence for the coroner. It is understood the force has started to interview a number of those involved.

The political fallout has threatened to overshadow Johnson’s death, which led to the revelations in the first place. He was found on railway tracks on 15 September near Sandy Hill station, in Bedfordshire.

His family, including his mother who has suffered a health scare since her son’s death, have vowed to fight for the truth to be exposed in their son’s name.