Scandal-hit Tatler Tory set to escape grilling on death of party activist
THE Conservatives will escape an investigation into wider bullying claims surrounding the suicide of a party activist who complained of intimidation, a coroner ruled yesterday.
‘Tatler Tory’ Mark Clarke, a senior election aide sacked from the party over the scandal, also looks set to avoid having to give evidence at the inquest into Elliott Johnson’s death, despite being accused in a suicide note of targeting him.
Mr Johnson’s parents had urged the coroner to examine allegations of ‘systemic’ bullying within the Tory Party, claiming their son took his own life last September, aged 21, after suffering ‘inhuman and degrading’ treatment by Clarke and his associates.
But coroner Tom Osborne turned down the request, saying: ‘I will not allow the inquest to be used as a tool for putting anyone on trial.’
He said he did not expect to call Mr Clarke or his ally and Mr Johnson’s lover, Andre Walker, who was also named in the suicide note.
Mr Osborne said: ‘The allegation against them is a blunt one of bullying and betrayal. It is difficult to see that, beyond the assertions made by [Mr Johnson] in his l etter, what these potential witnesses could add to the inquest, save for to deny any bullying.’
He added: ‘It would clearly be going beyond the proper scope of this inquest to b e calling members of the Conservative Party to inquire into what steps or measures they are
‘Step forward for the family’
taking to investigate the bullying allegations by a party member towards another party member.’
A few weeks before taking his life on r ai l way t r acks at Sandy, Bedfordshire, Mr Johnson had complained about Clarke’s alleged threats to his immediate boss at Conservative Way Forward, a campaign group within the party.
His colleague passed the complaint on to Conservative Campaign Headquarters, the nerve centre of the party. But a few days later he was told the CWF was considering making his full-time position redundant, a move his family’s lawyers have argued was a ‘retaliatory action’ linked to his bullying complaint.
Mr Osborne said the inquest will consider the complaint letter about Clarke and the redundancy decision.
Mr Johnson’s father, Ray, from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, expressed surprise at the decision not to call Clarke or Walker. But he added: ‘It’s good the coroner recognises the link between the dismissal and Mark Clarke. This is a really important step forward for the family.’
Speaking after the coroner’s ruling, Mr Walker said: ‘I’m disappointed the motion to extend the inquest has been declined. It would have given us an opportunity to look at the allegations of homophobic discrimination in much more detail.’
Mr Clarke, a former Tory parliamentary candidate who once appeared in a Tatler photo shoot and was tipped as a future minister by the magazine, was expelled from the party after an investigation. He has denied all the bullying allegations.