When a party figure as senior as Sayeeda Warsi makes a serious complaint to her successor as Conservative party chair and fails to get a response, the evidence of institutional failure is unmistakable. Lady Warsi has told the Guardian that she informed Conservative central office that she was being trolled on social media by Mark Clarke, a former party candidate and organiser, but heard nothing back. That is a disgrace. But nine months after Lady Warsi’s complaint was left unanswered, a young party volunteer, Elliott Johnson, apparently took his own life. In a letter that he wrote to his parents, he accused Mr Clarke – who denies any wrongdoing – of bullying. That turns a matter of poor internal systems into a potential tragedy.
Politics is a tough and competitive game, but Lady Warsi is a tough politician. Having been asked to sit in the House of Lords by David Cameron to bring the perspective of Muslim women to the party and parliament, she refused to shut up when the party found her opinions inconvenient.
Nor was her complaint the first against Mr Clarke. Last week, BBC Newsnight reported on several other cases where people felt threatened, harassed or bullied by him. The complaints ranged from unwanted sexual advances to an allegation of attempted blackmail. The victims claim that their protests to senior party figures such as Andrew Feldman, at the time co-chairman of the party with Grant Shapps, were acknowledged – and then ignored. In reply, Conservative central office denies all knowledge of any written or verbal complaint. Yet after the Newsnight allegations emerged, Mr Clarke was immediately expelled from the party and barred for life.
All parties depend on ambitious, committed young volunteers. Often they hope for a political career. But it is not only in politics that that kind of relationship can lead to abuse, nor is it a problem confined to the Conservative party. Earlier this month, the Liberal Democrats’ most successful election strategist, Chris Rennard, was forced off the party’s federal executive days after being elected because of his earlier alleged predatory behaviour to young women in the party [see footnote]. Both cases involve claims about a valued worker with close personal relationships at the top of the party seemingly exploiting young people many rungs beneath them on the political ladder.
Lord Feldman is a close and longstanding friend of the prime minister. He was one of his original backers and an important party fundraiser. But as chair, he also leads the whole voluntary side of the party; he represents them to the Westminster-based leadership. His is a unique position, ultimately responsible for the way the party relates to its activists. In the end, failure stops on his desk.
By chance, Justice Lowell Goddard on Friday finally detailed the first stages of her inquiry into the institutional failures that lie behind decades of child abuse. No one is suggesting the Conservative party has failed in that way, or on that scale. But, like the churches and local councils that Justice Goddard will investigate, it must answer the charge that it may have put protecting its own position ahead of its duty of care to young people freely giving up their time to support it.
• This footnote was appended on 1 December 2015. The article says “Chris Rennard, was forced off the party’s federal executive days after being elected because of his earlier alleged predatory behaviour to young women in the party”. To clarify: Lord Rennard was investigated by both the Metropolitan Police and the Liberal Democrats over allegations of sexual harassment but both investigations were dropped because there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
