DIRTY DOSSIER
Top Tory activist bullied by notorious youth wing boss named as inspiration for the... ... which was posted on the internet by crony of shamed Mark Clarke
A TOP young woman Conservative activist was last night named as the inspiration for the ‘sex spreadsheet’ which has rocked Westminster.
Commons researcher Sarah-Jane Sewell, 27, had bitter personal experience of political bullying when she was targeted by ‘Tatler Tory’ Mark Clarke – a key Election aide to David Cameron. Mr Clarke received his nickname after he was tipped as a future Cabinet Minister by the society magazine.
Ms Sewell, who has also worked as a radio presenter and ‘make-up and perfume adviser’, told an official inquiry into Mr Clarke’s activities that she had been the victim of ‘human bear-baiting’ on social media by Mr Clarke and his acolytes.
She quit as deputy chairman of Conservative Future, the party’s youth wing, in 2014, accusing ‘vicious’ Clarke and his allies of having ‘besmirched’ her reputation.
Ms Sewell, who chairs the party’s Conservative Young Women group and works as an assistant to Tory MP Matthew Warman, is said by sources to have played a key role in warning young Commons researchers about the dangers of harassment by politicians in Westminster.
She was targeted by Mr Clarke and his cronies after falling out with him in the run-up to ‘road trip’ campaigns during the 2015 General Election, which Mr Clarke helped to oversee.
In her resignation letter she said: ‘I have been besmirched in the most abhorrent fashion and have little doubt that others would be subject to similar treatment from those who act with impunity.’ Ms Sewell said she had been ‘viciously ridiculed’ by Clarke.
A source said: ‘Sarah is seen as a hero for the way she stood up to Clarke, and her colleagues are determined that a similar culture should not be allowed to flourish in the Commons itself.’
Ms Sewell denies contributing to the list of sexual allegations against more than 40 Tory MPs, or being aware that the details could be leaked, saying yesterday: ‘I am definitely not the author and I don’t know who is.’
A redacted version of the spreadsheet first appeared on the internet last Sunday, but uncensored copies were soon being passed around Westminster by MPs, researchers and journalists. It is believed to have been drawn up by a group of young Tory researchers concerned by reports of sexual harassment by their employers.
Mr Clarke was banned for life from the party after claims that he was involved in bullying that led to the suicide of young Tory Elliott Johnson in 2015. Ms Sewell gave evidence to an official inquiry into the claims last year.
Mr Clarke has denied all allegations levelled against him.
Our son WAS bullied by Tatler Tory... his suicide note proves it How The Mail on Sunday revealed the ‘Tatler Tory’ bullying allegations made by Elliott Johnson’s parents The victim of a fake photograph stitch-up
THE notorious sex spreadsheet was leaked on to the internet by a crony of ‘Tatler Tory’ Mark Clarke – and it includes names and allegations involving people linked to the scandal.
Despite furious denials from many of the MPs on the list, Andre Walker, a London-based journalist, put the full, unredacted file on an American website.
Mr Walker was heavily involved in the ‘Tatler Tory’ scandal, which erupted after party activist Elliott Johnson committed suicide and left a letter blaming Mr Clarke for bullying him.
Mr Walker was a close ally of Mr Clarke: shortly before his death, Mr Johnson became embroiled in a furious bust-up with Mr Walker.
During the row – which Mr Johnson secretly recorded – Mr Walker could be heard calling Mr Johnson a ‘f ****** **** head’ for falling out with Mr Clarke. The incendiary tape was sent to a Tory official on the day of Mr Johnson’s death. One of the Tory MPs mentioned on the list is Morecambe MP David Morris, who is falsely claimed by the spreadsheet’s authors of having had an affair with researcher Alexandra Swann. But he, too, had crossed the path of Mr Walker.
Before he became a journalist at the Commons, Mr Walker worked as researcher for Tory Mr Morris. Last year, the MoS revealed that Mr Morris believed he had been the victim of a ‘fake photo’ stitch-up by Mr Walker, after a picture appeared in a newspaper of Ms Swann apparently sitting on his knee in a London club.
Friends of Mr Morris said the Tory whips had told him that they suspected Mr Walker of ‘doctoring’ the picture to make it look as if he was having an affair. Mr Morris and Ms Swann both denied that any affair took place.
One of the MP’s friends said: ‘Alexandra was not sitting across his knee like that, so the picture was clearly a Photoshop job. Those aren’t David’s hands – his right index finger is crooked and an inch shorter than it should be from a bad break years ago. And surely in the mirror, David’s hair should be parted on the left?’
Ms Swann, then 23, who worked with Mr Walker in Mr Morris’s Commons office, also believed the image was doctored – although she cleared Mr Walker of blame.
Mr Walker recently had his pass to work as a journalist in the Commons withdrawn over claims of misconduct. He denies any allegations of bullying against him or of doctoring the picture.