Tory MP loses whip over sex and drugs claims
A CONSERVATIVE backbench MP has had the whip withdrawn while allegations about drug abuse and sexually inappropriate behaviour are investigated by the new parliamentary harassment watchdog.
David Warburton, the MP for Somerton and Frome, has been suspended from the Tory party while an investigation is carried out into claims he took cocaine and was sexually inappropriate towards three women.
The 56-year-old Somerset MP, who is married with two young children, last night insisted he would launch a robust defence and denied any wrongdoing.
A spokesman for the Whips Office said: “David Warburton MP has had the Conservative Party whip removed while the investigation is ongoing.”
According to a report in The Sunday Times, one woman whom the former music teacher and businessman had met through politics alleged he took cocaine at her home two months ago.
She did not make a complaint to police or any other authority. She has not seen him since.
Meanwhile, two women have lodged formal complaints with the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme, set up to tackle misconduct by MPs and peers in the wake of the MeToo movement that rocked Westminster leading to four government ministers losing their jobs. The scheme’s website says it “is for all current and former members of the parliamentary community”.
It is said the women alleged Mr Warburton had behaved inappropriately either in or around the Palace of Westminster. It is reported that he groped one woman’s thigh at a British Kebab Awards ceremony and made sexualised comments towards her.
The women, who claim he pressurised them to drink more alcohol than they wanted to, claim he had also boasted about drug taking.
When contacted by The Sunday Telegraph last night, Mr Warburton said: “I have enormous amounts of defence, but unfortunately the way that things work means that doesn’t come out first.
“I have heard nothing whatsoever from the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme. I’m sorry, I can’t comment any further.”
The Twitter account Mr Warburton
used was offline yesterday with visitors to the @DJwarburton page instead seeing the message: “This account doesn’t exist. Try searching for another.”
Mr Warburton has been ministerial aide to the Department for Education and the Department of International Development.
Last month, the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) rounded on the former Commons speaker, John Bercow, describing him as a “serial bully” in an 89-page report.
The move followed a 2019 ruling which allowed historic cases to be included within the ICGS’s scope. However, a one-year time limit on complaints against MPs for bullying, harassment and sexual miconduct is due to come into force at the end of this month.
Before entering politics, Mr Warburton studied classical music composition and piano at the Royal College of Music and worked as a music and freelance composer at an inner city school.
He also founded the technology company The Music Solution Ltd (TMS) in 1999 which provides downloadable music to mobile phones. By 2005, TMS had become the Pitch Entertainment Group with its headquarters in Covent Garden, London, as well as offices across Europe, Asia and America. He sold the company in 2006 and set up two new companies involved in property restoration and development in Somerset and Oxfordshire.
He was first elected in May 2015 with a majority of 20,268, one of the biggest constituency swings to the Tories. Shortly afterwards he became the chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on music.
In January, Mr Warburton revealed on Twitter how he had lost eight stone in weight after fearing he was “mor
‘I have enormous defence, but unfortunately the way that things work means that doesn’t come out first’
bidly obese” because he weighed more than 21 stone.
He posted before and after “selfie” photographs on social media showing how he had used a home gymnasium to achieve a weight of just over 12 stone.
He claimed his secret to success lay with vigorous exercise, including lifting weights and swapping beer for gin.
He is married to Harriet Baker-Bates, who works in PR, and lives in Somerton, Somerset with their two young children Cecily and James.