Ex-Tory MP Victoria Borwick says a married colleague put his hand up her skirt in 2015 – as Westminster battles a series of sexual misconduct claims
- Victoria Borwick, who was a Tory MP at the time of the incident in 2015, revealed how the married colleague, also a Conservative MP, put his hand up her skirt
- She said the lines of work can get very blurred as people work long hours
- The 66-year-old said she ‘wouldn’t be the first MP’ to notice ‘different culture’
An ex-Tory MP has revealed how a married colleague once put his hand up her skirt amidst more sexual misconduct allegations to have hit Westminster.
Victoria Borwick, who was once the deputy mayor of London and a Conservative MP at the time of the incident in 2015, said that she wondered if the touching was some sort of ‘test’ to see how she would react.
The 66-year-old, who was most recently an MP for Kensington, decided against reporting it because she thought it was best she ‘just got on with life’.
Now a Conservative campaigner and activist, Ms Borwick described how she simply moved away after the married MP put his hand up her skirt, saying that ‘even his hand wasn’t long enough.’
Ex-Tory MP and previous deputy mayor of London, Victoria Borwick (pictured), revealed how a married MP once put his hand up her skirt amidst more sexual misconduct allegations to have hit Westminster
She told Sky News: ‘I mean, I suppose I could have spoken to the whips but I didn’t.
‘I felt that whinging is not in my nature and I think I just got on with life.’
She explained that she ‘wouldn’t be the first MP’ to say that there is a ‘different’ culture in Westminster’, adding that she is pleased to hear of the inquiry set to be launched as announced by Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Ms Borwick described how the lines of work can get ‘very blurred’, as people work long hours and sometimes spend entire weeks away from their families and homes.
She said: ‘I can well see that if you’re a long way from home, and you’ve got a lot of tempting opportunity around you of a lot of colleagues, you get to know very closely and those that potentially work for you, the situation can be very toxic.
‘The thing is that they’re in a bubble. I think that inevitably, perhaps boundaries are broken.’
Ms Borwick’s story comes after Westminster has been plagued with sexual misconduct allegations, with fellow Tory MP Neil Parish having admitted to watching pornography in the Commons on two occasions.
This led to his resignation as MP for Tiverton and Honiton, his constituency for over 12 years.
Ms Borwick’s story comes after Westminster has been plagued with sexual misconduct allegations, with fellow Tory MP Neil Parish having admitted to watching pornography in the Commons on two occasions
One minister has been accused of having ‘noisy sex’ in his parliamentary office, another Tory MP with allegations that he sent a ‘d**k pic’ to a female colleague, and another who has been given repeated warnings for his use of prostitutes.
One other MP is supposed to have licked men’s faces while drunk in one of the Parliament’s bars.
The pressure to clean up Westminster politics has risen amid the wave of claims, which have often been alleged to be booze-fuelled.
On Saturday, the Sunday Times alleged that one MP was so drunk on champagne at a parliamentary bash that they had to be escorted out.
Another separate incident included a female researcher who was so drunk that she vomited in a Commons’ bar, only to be found later found passed out.
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has called for a review to take place into Westminster’s working practices after the recent damning allegations.
In early April, Imran Khan resigned from his position as MP for Wakefield after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Not long before that, Tory backbencher David Warburton was suspended after allegations of sexual harassment and cocaine use was put against him.
At the moment, 56 MPs are reportedly facing claims of sexual misconduct.
There are at least three Cabinet ministers who are understood to be among those referred to the Complaints and Grievance Scheme.
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