Cabinet Minister in sex blackmail plot
New ‘Tatler Tory’ storm as Election aide is accused of scheme to film secret trysts Politician confesses to affair after he is warned he’d be forced into giving favours
‘Like a real-life version of House Of Cards’ ‘The Prime Minister was furious over scandal’
THE Tories were rocked by a new scandal last night after a Cabinet Minister confessed to an affair after being told he faced a blackmail plot by a senior aide to David Cameron.
The Minister informed No10 he had been told Tory director Mark Clarke intended to film him and his female lover leaving a London club where they met for trysts.
He ended the six-month affair in May, the same month in which his lover, who holds a high profile Conservative post, was tipped off about the alleged blackmail plot.
The Minister kept quiet until Tory activist Elliott Johnson killed himself in September after he had been bullied by Clarke – who was publicly feted by Mr Cameron after running the Party’s ‘Road Trip 2015’ campaign.
He owned up to Downing Street and Tory Party chairman Lord Feldman. He also told his longterm female partner.
The sensational disclosure comes amid panic in the Tory high command over the scandal. One party veteran said it was ‘beginning to resemble a new real-life version of House of Cards’, the 1990s TV series – recently adapted for a US version starring Kevin Spacey – involving skulduggery in the Tory Party.
The Mail on Sunday is aware of the names of the Minister and his lover but has decided not to publish them. The Minister said: ‘Mark Clarke is an appalling man – I wish I had never met him. I was stupid. I hope to repair my relationship with my partner.’
The Minister’s lover was warned that a Tory ally of Clarke, Sam Armstrong, planned to film the couple leaving the East India Club in the heart of London’s clubland so that Clarke could ‘blackmail’ the Minister to gain political favours.
Armstrong is said to be used regularly by Tory HQ to ‘dig dirt’ on rival Parliamentary candidates. He has a Commons pass issued by Thanet South MP Craig Mackinlay, who defeated Nigel Farage in May’s Election.
He said last night: ‘These accusations are preposterous and belong in a spy movie not a newspaper. My role within Road Trip 2015 was batching leaflets not blackmail.’
The alleged blackmail scandal comes after Clarke, Armstrong and another Tory crony, Andre Walker, were banned from the Tory conference when Johnson committed suicide. In addition, Clarke was suspended from the party.
Clarke, 38, was dubbed the ‘Tatler Tory’ after being tipped by the society magazine for a Cabinet career. But he faces political ruin and the risk of criminal prosecution over claims that he assaulted women Tory activists and used blackmail, alcohol, thuggery and sex-and-drugs smears in a vicious Tory Party power struggle.
Last night, Conservative chairman Lord Feldman, a close friend and political ally of Mr Cameron, vowed to expel Clarke from the party and slap a life ban on him from standing as a Conservative MP if the allegations are accurate.
A spokesperson for the peer said: ‘If the allegations against Mr Clarke are found to be true, the Party Board will permanently exclude him from the Party. There would be no prospect of Mr Clarke being allowed to apply to be a Conservative Party candidate of any kind, or represent the Party in any respect, again.’
Clarke, an executive with consumer goods giant Unilever, claims he has been targeted by Tory HQ because he threatened to expose ‘endemic drug-taking’ in the party.
In a statement to this newspaper, Mr Clarke said last night: ‘I strongly refute any suggestion of bullying, harassment, blackmail, or intended/ attempted blackmail.’
The Minister told Lord Feldman in late September he had been warned he could be targeted by Clarke over his affair. He confessed after The Mail on Sunday revealed claims that Clarke had bullied Johnson, who had worked for Tory HQ during the Election.
The Minister first learned of the alleged blackmail plot in a text message from his lover: ‘I was told Clarke and Sam Armstrong were planning to take photographs of us coming out of the East India Club.’
A well-placed source said: ‘They were going to send the incriminating photo to the Minister in a plain manila envelope so they could blackmail him,’ said the source. ‘Clarke wanted political favours.’
The Tories and police are investigation a number of allegations against Clarke. They include a claim that he tried to entrap the blackmail Minister’s lover into being filmed snorting cocaine to leak it to the media.
He is also accused of blackmail and revenge porn by a young male Conservative official. The official says he was duped into performing a sex act on a fake website and asked for £2,500 to stop it being posted on his Facebook page.
When he refused, the threat was carried out. Mr Clarke made a copy of the film and tried to leak it to the media. The Mail on Sunday has seen the film, which shows Clarke recording it on a smartphone camera.
The Tory Party and police are investigating the claims surrounding Johnson’s death and other allegations about Clarke. This newspaper has learned that Clarke was quizzed before the 2010 Election by Party chairman Eric Pickles and Tory Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin over claims of an altercation, but no action was taken.
The then Conservative chairman Grant Shapps is also in the firing line for giving Clarke the title of Tory ‘director’ when he endorsed his ‘Road Trip 2015’. It consisted of bussing young activists into key constituencies.
Clarke was lauded by Mr Cameron at an Election victory rally. The Prime Minister was furious when the full extent of the Clarke scandal was exposed. He has long described Clarke privately as a ‘nightmare.’
The timing of the disclosure is no coincidence. Clarke’s alleged victims were terrified of speaking out earlier because it would have damaged their chances of winning.
As they stepped forward, Clarke intensified his threats to try to silence them. But he pushed Johnson too far. The Tories could sweep the scandal under the carpet no longer.