Andrew Feldman, the Tory chairman, is facing intense pressure after it emerged that he personally authorised payments of more than £1m to fund the Conservative campaign at the heart of bullying allegations in the party.
Amid a growing chorus of criticism at the party’s handling of the allegations, Feldman backed down and agreed to establish an independent investigation that will be overseen by the crossbench peer David Pannick QC.
The Conservative party board announced that the law firm Clifford Chance would conduct the investigation “in its entirety” and Feldman would recuse himself from the board meeting which considers the report. Pannick will review the process and certify that it has been carried out in an “objective, appropriate and comprehensive” manner.
Feldman agreed to hold an independent investigation after the MPs on the Conservative party board and representatives of the party’s voluntary wing made clear that an inquiry under Tory control would be unacceptable. The conduct of Feldman will be at the heart of the investigation after it emerged that senior figures on the board declined to express confidence in him and said his future would depend on the answers he gives to the enquiry.
Ray Johnson, whose son Elliott reportedly took his own life after complaining that he had been bullied by the former Tory aide Mark Clarke, said that Feldman should resign. Johnson, who said that the party had not informed him of the change in the terms of the inquiry, told the Guardian: “The fact that this inquiry is now independent or not is irrelevant to the fact Lord Feldman was in charge when my son was being bullied, intimidated and ultimately died.”
Johnson renewed his criticism of Feldman after the Conservative party board expressed its “profound regret” at the tragic death of his son and sent its “deepest condolences” to his family.The board added that the investigation into events surrounding Elliott Johnson’s death and the alleged conduct of Clarke would be “timely, objective, and comprehensive and independent”.
Clarke, who has been expelled from the party, is facing a string of bullying allegations over his conduct in RoadTrip2015, his campaign which transported young Tory activists to marginal seats around the country.
Grant Shapps, the former Tory co-chairman who appointed Clarke as director of RoadTrip2015 in CCHQ in July 2014, resigned as an international development minister on Saturday after admitting that he had failed to respond adequately to complaints about Clarke. Shapps ran Team 2015, the campaign that signed up as many as 100,000 volunteers who campaigned in marginal seats, which funded RoadTrip2015.
Feldman will face questions over:
- His decision to authorise payments of more than £1m to Team 2015. This budget was used to fund the RoadTrip2015, described by Shapps as a “critical component” of Team 2015, which was run by Clarke. Lynton Crosby, the Tory campaign director, was understood to be sceptical about Team 2015.
A key figure at the heart of the Tory general election campaign said that Feldman wholeheartedly supported the Team 2015 campaign, which was run by Shapps from his office at CCHQ along with the chairman’s sister, Deborah. “It was blood and sweat and toil and tears replacing cost. It was not cheap to do, and Andrew absolutely backed it, he always got it, he always got it, which was great,” the Tory campaign figure said of Feldman’s support for Team 2015.
- The way in which Clarke was the “inspiration” for the Super Saturday Team 2015 scheme in which volunteers were sent to marginal constituencies, according to the Tory figure from the election campaign. In the final phase of the election campaign, the volunteers were bussed around as the party embraced Clarke’s RoadTrip2015.
- The extent to which he was aware of an investigation that was held into Clarke’s conduct as the Tory candidate in Tooting during the 2010 general election. Clarke was reportedly interviewed by Patrick McLoughlin, the chief whip, and by Eric Pickles, the party chairman, in the run-up to the 2010 election. At least one senior party figure is to ask the inquiry whether Feldman, who was chief executive of the Conservative party at the time, was aware of the investigation in 2010. Feldman has approved statements in recent weeks which said that the party was not aware of any written complaints about Clarke which have not been investigated.
Clarke was expelled from the party for life after he was accused of bullying activist Elliott Johnson. The 21-year-old had made a formal complaint about Clarke in August and claimed he was being bullied by him in a note left before he is believed to have killed himself in September.
In its statement, the board said that the investigation would be “conducted in its entirety” by Clifford Chance, wouldreview all interviews and no party officials would be involved in this process, other than as witnesses. Feldman and the Tory deputy chairman, Rob Halfon, who admitted having an affair with a young Tory activist, woulld absent themselves from the meeting where the report will be considered, the board said, adding it would publish the report but protect vulnerable witnesses and it would do nothing to prejudice the coroner’s inquiry and police investigations.
The board added: “Furthermore, the board will ask an independent third-party specialist to undertake a separate review of our governance processes as a party and, in particular, with regard to our relationship with all groups linked to, and campaigning on behalf of, the party. We want to ensure that they are robust and in keeping with the best practice in the private and public sector.”
It is understood that the investigation will last no more than a few months to ensure there can be no repeat of the allegations. Charles Walker, the Tory MP for Broxtowe, who is a member of the board, said: “Having Lord Pannick overseeing the architecture of the inquiry provided me as a board member with the reassurance I was looking for that this inquiry will be independent and not constrained.”
But Ray Johnson said: “When Elliott made his complaint on 12th or 13th of August, on that date Mark Clarke should have been suspended. He should have been suspended from the party and told not to make any contact at all with any activists. But they didn’t, they just let him carry on. They weren’t taking the complaints seriously enough. Grant Shapps had gone, he left after the election. But following the election the only person at the top was Feldman.
Johnson said the Tories did not inform him directly that Clifford Chance were taking on the investigation. “They’ve been uncommunicative from the very beginning,” he said.
“I give it a guarded welcome at this stage. I don’t know who Clifford Chance are, I don’t know how close their relationship is with the Conservative party. It might mean nothing independent really at all.
“Until I’ve had a chance to consider the points they’ve made there, I welcome it’s heading in the right direction, but I have to consider the points before I enthusiastically endorse it. It might just be another stalling tactic to save Lord Feldman’s neck.”
