A woman has described being “violently assaulted” at a Tory party conference hotel bar.
Business executive Clementine Cowton said she wanted to highlight how “women are often unsafe in places where other people feel safe” as she detailed the alleged assault.
Clementine Cowton, the director of external affairs at Octopus Energy Group, told a fringe event that she had been “violently assaulted in the conference zone by a man” in the bar of the Midland hotel in Manchester.
She said: “So sorry to dump this on everybody. It was a bit of a surprise but I do want to just take the opportunity to say, women are often unsafe in places where other people feel safe, and it’s really important that we start to take that much more seriously as a society and, starting with the police.”
Cowton said that the man had tried to punch her in the crowded bar.
She said: “He only managed to get as far as smashing a glass out of my hand.”
She added: “He was immediately set upon by lots of people who stopped him from doing anything”.
Cowton said that police came over to her about 20 minutes later and she reported the incident.
Cowton said she thought he was in his mid-30s, white and bald.
The Conservative party spokesman said: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and the Party has revoked the pass of the individual concerned and is working with the police.”
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