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Father of Tory activist Elliott Johnson who killed himself tells Lord Feldman
Last night, Mr Johnson’s father called for the resignations of Mr Shapps, who is now worldwide development minister, and Lord Feldman, the current party chairman.
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Shapps has been replaced by Nick Hurd as the British government’s global development minister.
The party has said it was not aware of any complaints against Mark Clarke, who ran the party’s “Road Trip” operation during the general election campaign, until August.
The final straw for Mr Shapps came on Friday afternoon when his predecessor as Tory chairman Sayeeda Warsi revealed she wrote to him nearly a year ago warning him about Clarke.
Her revelation is the latest claim that the Tory Party ignored complaints of bullying by senior activist Mr Clarke for a year before he was kicked out of the Conservatives.
Cameron’s office published an exchange of letters between the prime minister and Shapps, 47, who was the party’s chairman until the election, responsible for coordinating the ground campaign. “What the Conservative Party must do and is doing is ensure that there is a proper investigation into this issue, into the allegations that were made and who they were made to and all the rest of it”.
The accusations surfaced after the apparent suicide of a Tory youth activist in September.
The party has launched an independent inquiry into the allegations, saying it remains “absolutely determined” to establish the truth of the events surrounding Mr Johnson’s death.
The letter appeared to contradict the Tory party’s claim it was unable to find records of uninvestigated complains against him.
The party has disclosed that 40 witnesses are giving evidence to the inquiry about bullying in the Conservative party youth wing during the RoadTrip2015 election campaign.
Mr Shapps said he had given Mr Clarke a “second chance” after he was removed from the party’s candidate list at the 2010 election.
Mr Clarke is accused of bullying Mr Johnson in the months before he is believed to have killed himself and was named in a letter written by the young activist just before he died on railway tracks on 15 September. “It is an appalling loss to suffer”, he said.
“I feel deeply for his parents”.
Ray Johnson welcomed Shapps’s resignation.
In his letter accepting the resignation, Mr Cameron said he knew it had been a “very hard decision” and Mr Shapps had given it “a great deal of thought”.
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Goodman also argued that the Conservative party should review its wider arrangements for making sure young activists are properly cared for.