Disgraced MP Chris Pincher faces fresh sexual assault allegations from Tory councillor

Chris Pincher posing for a parliamentary portrait.

New allegations against disgraced former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher have been reported.

Warning – sexual assault allegations.

Conservative councillor Daniel Cook told Channel 4 News that Pincher groped him in 2005 and 2006.

Cook is deputy mayor at Tamworth Council, while Pincher has been the constituency’s MP since 2010. He resigned as deputy chief whip on 30 June and had the Tory whip suspended after he was accused of groping two men in a London nightclub.

The scandal sparked the beginning of the end for Boris Johnson, whom Pincher was an ally to, and the prime minister is now preparing to resign on Thursday (7 July).

Cook told Channel 4 that he met Pincher when he first entered politics, and that Pincher “took him under his wing”.

He said Pincher was drunk during the alleged incidents. In 2005, he said Pincher came to his house with a council colleague and “the next thing [he] knew… cupped his hand around my genitals” and had asked if he had any “good porn”.

He said that he laughed off the first alleged incident. A year later, he claims Pincher visited him “stinking drunk” and groped him from behind. This time, he said, he physically threw him out of his home

Pincher denied the allegations to Channel 4.

Cook told the broadcaster that he had lodged a complaint with the Conservative Party.

A party spokesperson said: “Mr Pincher’s membership of the Conservative party has been suspended pending investigation.”

At the time of writing, Pincher remains the MP for Tamworth.

Accusations against Chris Pincher arose after he resigned as deputy chief whip, citing his own drunken behaviour.

It was soon alleged that this behaviour involved him allegedly groping two men in a London nightclub. A source told Sky News that at least one of the men that Pincher reportedly groped was an MP.

Since then, prime minister Boris Johnson has faced immense backlash from both the opposition and his own party about his handling of the allegations.

His office denied he knew about other, historic allegations against Pincher when he appointed him deputy chief whip. He later admitted he knew of the allegations, which sparked a wave of ministerial resignations that eventually left Johnson no choice but to resign.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted her disgust, saying: There can be no question of the Conservatives sweeping a potential sexual assault under the carpet. Boris Johnson must now answer how Chris Pincher can remain Conservative MP at all.”

During the 6 July session of Prime Minister’s Questions, opposition leader Keir Starmer asked Boris Johnson to clarify why a government whip told a young man, who had allegedly reported Pincher for sexual assault, that being gay “doesn’t make it straightforward”.

Johnson replied: “I’ve already said that I regret very much that the member for Tamworth continued to hold office after the complaint against him was made in the foreign office. In hindsight, I should have realised that he did not change.

“When it came to Friday [1 July ] of last week when I was given information that he’s read out… I acted immediately and I took the whip away from him. We will not tolerate that kind of behaviour… We also want to help people up and down the country by cutting taxes.”

So far, Pincher has faced six new claims of sexual harassment or assault, all of which he has denied. This is in addition to the two allegations of sexual assault reportedly investigated by two separate police forces – one in London between 2010 and 2012, and another in Staffordshire in May 2019.

Despite this, the Conservative Party has not yet removed him from his position as MP.

PinkNews contacted Chris Pincher’s office for comment.

 

 

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