I was groped at No10, says Victoria writer
THE writer of ITV’S Victoria has claimed she was groped by a government official during a visit to Downing Street.
Daisy Goodwin said she was astonished when, at the end of a business meeting, the man put his hand on her breast. She did not report the incident, instead choosing to confront him about his behaviour before walking out.
Writing in Radio Times, Goodwin said: “I was summoned to Downing Street during the Cameron administration to talk to an official about an idea for a television programme. I had met the official at a dinner and he had followed up with an email.
“The official, who was a few years younger than me, showed me into a room dominated by a portrait of Mrs T. Then to my surprise he put his feet on my chair (we were sitting side by side) and said that my sunglasses made me look like a Bond girl.” Goodwin said she attempted to turn the conversation back to programme-making. “At the end of the meeting we both stood up and the official, to my astonishment, put his hand on my breast. I looked at the hand and then in my best Lady Bracknell voice said, ‘Are you actually touching my breast?’
“He dropped his hand and laughed nervously. I swept out in what can only be called high dudgeon.”
Last night, Goodwin said the man no longer works in Downing Street and she is choosing not to identify him.
“I’ve spent years dealing with gropey old men, but this was a gropey young man,” she said. “I totally support any woman who makes a complaint. But if a woman complains it’s because they feel genuinely injured, whereas I didn’t.”
A No10 spokesman said: “This matter was not reported at the time. The Cabinet Office would look into any formal complaint, should one be made.”
‘I looked at the hand and then in my best Lady Bracknell voice said, “Are you actually touching my breast?’’ ’