Tory activist, 21, condemns party’s ‘creepy old men’ in note from beyond the grave
We shouldn’t have to put up with creepy weird old men... grabbing us to try to take us home at the end of the night. There’s a reason we don’t feel safe [at conference] Jade Smith’s post on Twitter three days after her death
A TROUBLED young Tory activist posted an online ‘suicide note’ accusing ‘creepy weird old men’ in the party of inappropriate sexual behaviour before she fell to her death from a clifftop beauty spot.
Jade Smith, 21, pleaded for an end to bullying and personal abuse within the party and urged it to change ‘for young people’s sake’.
Miss Smith, who had a Boris Johnson tattoo on her leg, appeared in BBC documentary series The Mighty Redcar about life in her socially-deprived home town in North Yorkshire.
Police were alerted on Sunday evening amid concerns for Miss Smith’s safety and a body was later found at Saltburn, Cleveland.
The extraordinary social media post, which was uploaded with a time delay, appeared on Twitter three days after her death, as tributes from friends and Tory colleagues – including her local MP – came flooding in.
It began: ‘So I suppose if you’re reading this I’ve committed suicide probably three days ago.’
Miss Smith, who had a history of mental health problems, revealed she had attempted to kill herself several times and had battled drug addiction.
She mentioned family and work problems and also referred to an incident four years ago when she briefly quit the party over claims of ‘bullying and harassment’ from local party officials.
But after briefly linking up with Ukip, she rejoined the Tories.
On The Mighty Redcar, Miss Smith was shown campaigning for the party in the last election, and her final remarks on Twitter were reserved for the Tories. ‘This is the last time I’ll ever have a platform to ask them to change, to beg them for young people’s sake to change,’ she wrote.
‘I’ve always received abuse for being a Tory. But the abuse we receive from each other and the older people in our associations is what takes it too far.’
Miss Smith then turned her attention to the annual Conservative conference, which had just begun when she died on Sunday.
She commented: ‘We shouldn’t have to be worried that our friends are going to be raped at conference or at the very least sexually assaulted.
‘We shouldn’t have to put up with creepy weird old men... grabbing us to go and chat to their friends and try to take us home at the end of the night. There’s a reason we don’t feel safe.’
Miss Smith asked friends not to mourn her death, ending her poignant message with the words: ‘Look out for each other out there. Remember not everyone looks depressed. Goodbye x.’
Earlier Simon Clarke, the Tory MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, described Miss Smith as a ‘remarkable and complex young person’.
He said: ‘Anyone who saw her on The Mighty Redcar will remember her as a young woman who wanted to succeed and to make a difference. I am desperately saddened that she is no longer with us.’
Christine Hobson, a local councillor criticised by Miss Smith in the earlier bullying row that led to her quitting the Tory party, described her as ‘quite a disturbed young lady’ but said: ‘It is a very, very sad thing to have happened.’
She added: ‘She was very young at the time. I can assure you I did nothing at all to make anyone think I would bully anyone.’
A Tory party spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts and condolences are with the friends and family of Jade Smith. We take all allegations of bullying or harassment incredibly seriously and are looking into the circumstances surrounding this deeply tragic incident.’ Cleveland Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious.
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‘Remarkable and complex’