The election aide at the heart of the Tory bullying scandal told associates that party chairman Andrew Feldman was helping him raise funds for a 2020 youth campaign, according to a memo sent to Conservative officials.
The message was sent in August, a month before the death of young activist Elliott Johnson, who is believed to have killed himself after allegedly being bullied by youth organiser Mark Clarke and others.
The memo will put more pressure on Lord Feldman, amid calls from Johnson’s father, for him to step down. The then co-chair of the party, Grant Shapps, has already resigned from a junior ministerial position over his handling of the allegations against Clarke, saying “the buck should stop with me”.
The note, sent to Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) with a copy of a letter of complaint about Clarke written by Elliott, describes Clarke as “dangerous” and urges the party to expel him.
Penned by a Tory activist, the memo, seen by the Guardian, also lists a litany of allegations and complaints about Clarke’s behaviour, as well as claims he had recently made about his influence and role within the Conservative party.
Listing claims Clarke had made, it says: “Lord Feldman is helping him fundraise for RoadTrip2020.”
The Tory party has said that RoadTrip2020, the next phase of Clarke’s youth campaign, was his idea and was never formally commissioned.
The party says it received no written complaints about Clarke before August and has launched an independent inquiry into the former aide and allegations of bullying. Clarke denies any wrongdoing.
But the memo says: “I received I don’t even know how many complaints about Mark Clarke and CCHQ’s endorsement of him.
“I feel irritated that no one is stepping up to try and protect these young activists who have just worked bloody hard helping to deliver a majority and deserve thanks – not to be shelved by CCHQ … and yelled at by Mark Clarke.
“For what it’s worth, my opinion is that Mark Clarke should never ever be allowed back on the candidates list, that CCHQ should disassociate entirely from him [I promise you don’t need him] and he should be kicked out of the party ASAP.”
The note describes Elliott Johnson’s complaint, made after Clarke allegedly accosted him in a pub on 12 August, as “the tip of the iceberg”.
“Before the election we knew he was badly behaved, but he managed to keep it away from us and under wraps. Since then he appears to be unravelling.” The memo added that Clarke was “dangerous and a bully”.
The note, initially written to assist the author at a meeting at CCHQ, was sent to the party. A spokesperson for the party disputed the suggestion that Feldman helped with fundraising for RoadTrip2020: “This is absolutely and categorically not true.”
Johnson was found dead on railway tracks on 15 September. He left a note in which he alleged Clarke had bullied him.
Clarke declined to comment on the memo.
