Tweeting blonde activist: They made Shapps a scapegoat
A YOUNG Conservative activist who was pictured with ‘Tatler Tory’ Mark Clarke suggested former chairman Grant Shapps had been made a scapegoat over the affair.
Marina Muttik, 20, was a close friend of campaigner Elliott Johnson, whose suicide sparked the bullying and blackmail scandal now engulfing the party.
But the Bristol University law student expressed concerns on Twitter after minister Mr Shapps was forced to resign over bringing now- disgraced senior election aide Clarke back into the party fold.
By contrast Lord Feldman, the current Tory Party chairman, has clung on to his job despite a string of damning questions over his handling of complaints against Clarke.
Miss Muttik – whose public social media pages feature scores of colourful pictures, including one of her wearing a lacy black bustier and suspenders – suggested it was: ‘one rule for some, another for the rest’.
On Saturday after Mr Shapps resigned, Miss Muttik, who is head of Bristol and Gloucester Conservative Future – the youth wing of the Tories – wrote: ‘I see the scapegoating worked out well for the party.
‘Throw in @grantshapps instead. I’m feeling the least “Tory” I have in a long time.’
Earlier this week, as Mr Johnson’s grieving father called for Lord Feldman to quit, she posted: ‘I’m actually rather disgusted by this Feldman / Shapps inquiry business. One rule for some, another for the rest.’
And she retweeted a post which said: ‘So line is Feldman can’t be forced out because he is a “decent” guy. Does that mean they think Shapps was not?’
Last year, Miss Muttik was pictured at an event sitting next to Clarke and Baroness Pidding – the pair who organised the Road Trip campaign that bussed activists into marginal seats during the election campaign. She was also photographed sitting next to Mr Johnson with a grinning Clarke crouching between them.
The scandal broke following the death of 21-year-old Mr Johnson, who lay down on railway tracks at Sandy station in Bedfordshire on September 15. Prior to his death, he was allegedly bullied by Clarke and his henchmen involved in Road Trip 2015.
Clarke now faces widespread bullying allegations along with claims that he blackmailed ministers and sexually harassed activists.
Mr Johnson referred to Lord Feldman by name after Clarke allegedly bullied him in Westminster’s Marquis of Granby pub on August 12. When Clarke ‘pinned him to his chair’ in front of horrified onlook- ers, Mr Johnson cried out: ‘I want to talk to Feldman. Why isn’t he protecting us from Mark Clarke?’
After Mr Johnson’s death Miss Muttik posted a sketch she had drawn of her friend on her Facebook page.
She wrote: ‘There’s no better way to get to know someone till you look into their soul through a humble pencil. It was an honour to know you Elliott Johnson. I can only hope to have done you jus- tice. Rest In Peace.’
She added: ‘Look into my eyes and hear what I’m not saying, for my eyes speak louder than my voice ever will.’
Members of Mr Johnson’s family were among those praising her tribute as a ‘beautiful picture’.
Miss Muttik, who wants to become a banker after graduating, has also posted pictures on Facebook of herself with former Defence Secretary Liam Fox.
Another photograph on her Twitter account, apparently taken in her bedroom, shows a giant cardboard cut-out of David Cameron.
She also posted a photo of Home Secretary Theresa May, whom she called ‘gorgeous’.
Clarke – once tipped as a future minister by Tatler magazine – denies the allegations against him.
‘It was an honour to know you’