Facing groping charges, Tory dy chief whip quits

London, July 1

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, still under the shadow of the partygate scandal of Covid law-breaching parties in Downing Street, has been hit with yet another drunken scandal as an ally in charge of discipline within the governing party resigned.

Boozy scandal

• Chris Pincher stepped down after admitting he ‘drank far too much and embarrassed himself and other people’
• There had been growing calls for PM Johnson to suspend Chris from party over allegations that he groped two men at a private members’ club in London

Chris Pincher, 52, stepped down as the deputy chief whip of the Conservative Party on Thursday night after admitting in his resignation letter that he “drank far too much” and “embarrassed myself and other people”. There have been growing calls for Johnson to suspend him from the party after allegations emerged of him groping two men at a private members’ club in London.

“Last night I drank far too much,” reads Pincher’s resignation letter. “I think the right thing to do in the circumstances is for me to resign as deputy chief whip. I owe it to you and the people I’ve upset to do this,” he said.

A newspaper reported the resignation, saying the senior Conservative MP was drinking at the Carlton Club in central London when he is said to have assaulted two other male guests.

Several concerned Tory MPs contacted the Conservative whips’ office to complain about his behaviour, the paper claims.

Opposition Labour MP Yvette Cooper called for his suspension whilst the “really serious” allegations are formally investigated.

“This is about sexual assault,” she said.

“This latest episode shows how far standards in public life have been degraded on Boris Johnson’s watch. The Conservative Party is so mired in sleaze and scandal that it is totally unable to tackle the challenges facing the British people,” said Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner.

As deputy chief whip, the Tory MP for Tamworth had been responsible for party discipline and ensuring the smooth running of government business. It now marks the second time that Pincher has quit a government whip’s job. In November 2017, he resigned as a junior whip after a complaint that he made an unwanted pass at former Olympic rower and Conservative Party candidate Alex Story.