So-called “Tatler Tory”, Mark Clarke, is at the centre of a bullying investigation following the suicide of young Tory activist Elliott Johnson.
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However, the report does lay bare “the party’s haphazard way of dealing with internal complaints, with some never passed on to the appropriate person and others actually forwarded to Mr Clarke himself”, says the Daily Telegraph.
Mr Abbott did inform Mr Phillips of a complaint about the “general conduct” of people on RoadTrip events – including allegations of sexual assault involving two people unconnected with Mr Clarke – but again there was no investigation as it proved impossible to arrange a meeting with the complainant.
But the report does little to shed light on further detail of the claims, setting out at the start that information would be withheld to protect identities.
Clarke, who was appointed by the party to run its RoadTrip2015 election campaign, came under heavy scrutiny after Elliott Johnson, a young Tory activist, took his own life in September 2015 and named Clarke as his tormentor in a suicide note.
The law firm concluded that while Mr Shapps was aware of a “few instances of potential misconduct” relating to Mr Clarke, there is “no evidence that Mr. Shapps was aware of allegations of bullying or harassment of young activists by Mr. Clarke or those associated with him prior to the 14 August 2015 Complaint”.
The report said: “Thirteen individuals were identified who were alleged to be victims of bullying, harassment and/or inappropriate conduct by Mr Clarke”.
However, the lawyers said there was no evidence that Shapps or Feldman had been made aware of the allegations of bullying or harassment before August 2015.
The claims included that Mr Clarke had “propositioned activists or tried to kiss them”.
The law firm’s report, commissioned by the Conservative Party, says the party’s then co-chairmen, Lord Feldman and Grant Shapps, had not been made aware of allegations until August previous year.
Tory chairman Patrick McLoughlin said: “The death of Elliott Johnson was a tragedy and our thoughts remain with his family and friends”.
‘The actions we are taking today will continue to ensure that volunteers, who are so vital to our party, can flourish.
In response to the report, the Conservative party said it would set up a hotline for complaints made by volunteers and overhaul its system for reporting complaints.
Clarke’s solicitor said he had cooperated with the police “and any other statutory body charged with investigating any matters relating to the subject matter of Clifford Chance’s investigation on behalf of the Conservative party board”.
Concerns about his behaviour in the 2010 election, …
He has called for an external inquiry into the allegations.
Mr Clarke refused to be interviewed by Clifford Chance, although his solicitors told the inquiry he was continuing to co-operate with the police and coroner investigating Mr Johnson’s death. Many are based on totally fabricated media reports. “He added that Mr Clarke’s candidate file made interesting reading, but that the view had essentially been taken that Mr. Clarke was a hard individual who delivered”. “All these allegations are vehemently denied”.
And it tells how in 2014 Mr Abbott had advised Mr Clarke to stay friendly with one senior Tory official as he could help to “crush complaints” against him. The Clifford Chance report reveals that upon receiving the complaint, Feldman said he had “always had the gravest possible reservations” about Clarke – but in relation to his “competence as a campaign organiser”.
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Clifford Chance interviewed 62 individuals over seven months, as it assessed whether CCHQ “deliberately ignored”, condoned or failed to respond properly to allegations against Mr Clarke.
