London, England, UK, Europe. Houses of Parliament, Thames River and Westminster Bridge (Credits: Getty Images)
A woman who claims she was the victim of a serious sexual assault by a Tory MP said party officials failed to investigate her complaint to protect their reputation.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she told Conservative whips about the attack as soon as it happened, but no action was taken.
She received £15,000 from Conservative HQ to get medical treatment at a private hospital because her mental health deteriorated.
The alleged victim described the party’s complaint system as ‘opaque’ and urged immediate change.
But she said this will not happen if officials are ‘more concerned with covering stuff like this up than the welfare of those involved’.
She told the Guardian: ‘I have felt I became a problem, not a person.’
The party assured her the information would remain private but the alleged victim said ‘it was not and was reported by the press last year’.
After complaining to the whips in person, she claimed she received a handwritten note from them, saying she should speak to the police.
But she did not feel comfortable reporting it at the time.
The MP had the conservative whip withdrawn following the allegations to the police.
But the woman has since withdrawn from the investigation due to stress.
The police said the MP is also being investigated for separate allegations, but he has not been arrested.
She added other organisations would have processes to deal with similar issues if the victim was not brave enough to go to the police.
A Conservative party spokesperson told The Guardian: ‘We have an established code of conduct and formal processes where complaints can be made in confidence.
‘The party considers all complaints made under the code of conduct, but does not conduct investigations where the party would not be considered to have primary jurisdiction over another authority, such as the police.
‘Where the party becomes aware of a complaint relating to possible criminal activity, we encourage the complainant to report this to the police.
‘Additionally, for matters pertaining to parliament, the ICGS [independent complaints and grievance system] is an independent body set up by parliament, and the Conservative party respects its processes.’
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