Daily Mail

Sex text Tory MP was made a minister despite probe over his ‘inappropri­ate touching’

- By Claire Duffin and Mario Ledwith

A TORY MP forced to resign as a minister after sending hundreds of sexually explicit messages to two women was previously accused of inappropri­ately touching a local councillor.

Andrew Griffiths, 47, was investigat­ed for allegedly putting his hand on Deneice Florence-Jukes’ knee and clutching her waist at a fundraisin­g ball, it emerged yesterday.

The MP was also accused of bullying Mrs Florence- Jukes and other local politician­s from his own party, but was cleared following an investigat­ion.

He stood down as minister for small business at the weekend after it emerged he had sent more than 2,000 texts to the two barmaids. They included discussion­s of sexual violence and were sent just weeks after his wife Kate, 47, gave birth to their long-awaited first child.

Mr Griffiths has so far resisted calls to stand down as an MP, despite a petition being set up demanding he quit the seat in Burton and Uttoxeter in Staffordsh­ire and a protest planned for Saturday.

But the fresh allegation­s will heap further pressure on him to stand down.

Mrs Florence- Jukes, a councillor on East Staffordsh­ire Borough Council, said his bullying left her ‘completely humiliated’ and forced her to quit the Tory party. She now sits as an independen­t.

‘He portrays himself as a man who is pro-women but he isn’t at all,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘In fact, I don’t think he likes women very much – he certainly doesn’t have any respect for them. He knew I wanted to be MP for the area. I am from the area. He isn’t. He is from Dudley and I think he felt threatened.’

She said Mr Griffiths was ‘very forward’ when he touched her knee and clutched her waist at the ball at Uttoxeter racecourse in September 2016. She made a formal complaint to Conservati­ve Campaign Headquarte­rs.

In her complaint, she told how he came over to her table and she told him that she aspired to become an MP.

‘His hand was on my knee for a few seconds, then he removed it. I felt [Griffiths] was being very forward by touching me,’ she said. ‘My guests even commented on what they had witnessed.’

The councillor added: ‘[Griffiths] is far too familiar with regards to inappropri­ate touching. I feel it crosses boundaries by him touching my knee, holding me around the waist and what I term lingering holds when in close proximity to him. It got to the point where I would specifical­ly keep a distance and bend forwards so I was out of his reach.’

Her complaint was referred to the party’s sexual harassment hotline and an investigat­ion was launched. It was ongoing when Mr Griffiths, formerly Theresa May’s chief of staff, was appointed small business minister in January.

It is understood that an independen­t investigat­ion was carried out and the complaint was dismissed by a panel of QCs after Mr Griffiths said it was ‘implausibl­e’ he would touch a colleague’s knee in a room full of people. He admitted putting his arm around her waist but said it was because she was tall and her husband had his hand over her back. He said it meant the ‘only other option’ was to put his hand around her waist.

Mrs Florence- Jukes, a former military police officer, quit the party in February over its handling of the complaint.

Separately it has emerged other Tory colleagues have also previously accused Mr Griffiths of bullying. Activist John Wheatley, his campaign manager for last year’s election, said he alerted senior members of the East Staffordsh­ire Conservati­ves ‘when I realised what sort of man I was working for’. Mr Wheatley told the Mail: ‘I was verbally abused and sworn at on a regular basis. He was generally just a nasty piece of work. Simply put he was a bully through and through.’

He said Mr Griffiths made ‘sexual comments’ about female colleagues and lewd remarks about the size of women’s breasts.

Richard Grosvenor, the leader of East Staffordsh­ire Borough Council, told the Guardian that Mr Griffiths’ ‘extreme bullying’ had continued for ‘many years’.

He said he complained to the party but no action was taken.

‘I deplore bullying and aggression of any descriptio­n against anyone,’ he said. ‘I, and many colleagues and residents, find it difficult to understand how he can now carry out his role as an MP interactin­g with constituen­ts following his unacceptab­le behaviour and he needs to seriously consider resigning.’ Paul Walker, chairman of the local Labour Party, said the latest allegation­s would put more pressure on the MP to ‘do the right thing’.

Mr Griffiths did not respond to a request for comment to the latest allegation­s. He has apologised over the texts, which started after he watched sexy videos the women had posted on social media. He called himself ‘Daddy’ and paid them £700 to send him explicit pictures. The messages included threats such as: ‘I want her to tie you up and beat that gorgeous big a** while Daddy watches.’

In a statement, Mr Griffiths said he was ‘ deeply ashamed’ of his ‘few moments of stupidity’ during a ‘period of great personal pressure’. He was back at work yesterday, but kept a low profile.

A Conservati­ve spokesman said: ‘Our code of conduct is a robust process that ensures any official complaint made is investigat­ed in full by an independen­t panel. The panel came to a clear decision and no further action was taken.’

‘Completely humiliated’

 ??  ?? Wedding day: Andrew Griffiths marrying Kate in Westminste­r in 2013 Allegation­s: Deneice Florence-Jukes Bombarded with texts: Imogen Treharne
Wedding day: Andrew Griffiths marrying Kate in Westminste­r in 2013 Allegation­s: Deneice Florence-Jukes Bombarded with texts: Imogen Treharne

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