Downing Street has described the groping allegation against Tory mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski as “very serious” and indicated Rishi Sunak would urge any further complainants to come forward.
Television producer Daisy Goodwin made a formal complaint after she publicly accused the former adviser of sexually assaulting her during a meeting in Downing Street a decade ago.
Mr Korski, who denies what he calls a “baseless” claim, has been resisting pressure to quit the race to be the Conservative candidate to lead London, despite support draining away.
Ms Goodwin, who wrote the hit TV show Victoria, alleged the incident took place while he was a special adviser to then-prime minister David Cameron and has made a complaint to the Cabinet Office.
Downing Street declined to say whether the Prime Minister believes Mr Korski is a suitable candidate or if he should suspend his campaign, but did say “conclusions shouldn’t be drawn on until the processes are followed through”.
Mr Sunak’s press secretary said: “Obviously these allegations are very serious. They are allegations that have obviously been denied by Daniel Korski himself. They should be handled in the proper way.”
Ms Goodwin has said she has been contacted by other women with “some very interesting stories” that make her “feel entirely justified” about making the allegations against Mr Korski.
Asked if the Prime Minister would encourage anyone with complaints against former staff members to come forward, his press secretary said: “Yes, of course.”
I didn’t do what’s been alleged, I absolutely didn’t do that— Daniel Korski
The press secretary declined to “get into ‘he said, she said’” when asked who Mr Sunak believes, but said he was not aware of the allegation before they it was made public.
Downing Street also would not set out whether it would fall within the remit of the Cabinet Office of the Conservative Party to investigate the allegation.
But the Prime Minister’s official spokesman suggested a “serious allegation” would be looked at by the “appropriate authority” regardless of the passage of time.
Ms Goodwin confirmed she has submitted a complaint to the Cabinet Office, although she said it was “harder than trying to get a telephone engineer”.
She first posted a picture on Instagram showing an automatic reply to her email titled “formal complaint about Daniel Korski urgent”.
“I sent an email at 5pm yesterday saying that I want to make a complaint about Daniel Korski – and who should I speak to?” she later told the PA news agency.
After reports that she had made a complaint emerged, she said she “got an email from someone in (the Cabinet Office) ethics (team) suggesting we talk – I am waiting to for that to happen.
“It’s harder than trying to get a telephone engineer.”
Ms Goodwin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that since making the allegation public she has been “contacted by other women with some very interesting stories, which clearly I can’t talk about for legal reasons, but I feel entirely justified in having written a piece and naming him”.
Education minister Claire Coutinho said she was pausing her support for Mr Korski, after the “very serious and concerning” allegation.
Having previously praised his “clear vision for London”, Ms Coutinho told Sky News: “I would say I’d be on pause at the moment because lots of things are happening.
“If there is a complaint in the system, it needs to be followed up swiftly so we can find the facts and see what’s happened, but I do think it’s a very serious and concerning allegation.”
Senior Tory Robert Halfon has also reportedly suspended his support for the Korski campaign.
Mr Korski has said it is “categorically” untrue that he groped Ms Goodwin and has pledged to stay in the race, as he faces two other challenges to be the Tory candidate for London mayor.
The Cabinet Office declined to confirm whether a formal complaint has been made.
Mr Korski used an interview with TalkTV on Tuesday to deny he had acted inappropriately when meeting Ms Goodwin.
“I didn’t do what’s been alleged, I absolutely didn’t do that. Ten years ago, when it happened, nothing was said to me. Seven years ago, when this first came out, nobody alleged anything to me,” he said.
“I’ve had countless meetings in Number 10, have had thousands of meetings since then in my business career. I treat everybody with the utmost respect.
“I work hard to create an empowering and respectful environment, and I sit appropriately in chairs, and I try to treat everybody with respect in order to get the best out of a professional situation.
“I don’t know how she could have come away with that perception.”
In the interview he acknowledged that the allegation had been raised as part of the process for choosing a Conservative candidate.
“During the process, I was asked about if there were any outstanding issues the party may be aware of. I said to the party, seven years ago there was a story. I was never named in the story. As far as I know, there was no investigation. But I did mention this to the party,” he said.
The Conservative Party has said it is not investigating the allegation.
A Tory spokesman said: “The Conservative Party has 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.”
