THE Tory deputy chief whip has resigned after allegedly groping two men while he was drunk on Wednesday.
Chris Pincher, who was responsible for maintaining discipline among Tory MPs, apologised to Boris Johnson, saying it had been “the honour of my life” to have served in the Government.
In his resignation letter, Pincher admitted he had “embarrassed myself and other people” after drinking too much.
Writing to the Prime Minister, Pincher said: “Last night I drank far too much. I’ve embarrassed myself and other people which is the last thing I want to do and for that I apologise to you and to those concerned.
“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 caused upset to, to do this.
“I want to assure you that you will continue to have my full support from the back benches, and I wish you all the best as you deal with aftershocks of Covid and the challenges of international inflation.
“It has been the honour of my life to have served in Her Majesty’s Government.”
Pincher was drinking at the Carlton Club in Piccadilly, a Tory party private members club when he allegedly assaulted two other guests.
A number of other Tory MPs contacted their whips office to flag the behaviour.
It has been reported that Pincher will be allowed to stay on as a Tory MP because he has admitted wrongdoing.
He has been the MP for Tamworth since 2010 and served as a minister under Theresa May.
This is the second time that Pincher has had to quit the whips office over allegations of sexual misconduct.
Back in 2017, Pincher had been accused of making sexual advances towards a former Olympic rower like a “pound shop Harvey Weinstein”.
Alex Story, an athlete and Tory activist, who was 26 years old at the time of the incident, alleged that Pincher tried to untuck his shirt, massage his neck and whispered: "You’ll go far in the Conservative Party".
Pincher subsequently quit and referred himself to the police after the incident – which reportedly happened at his home in 2001.
A Tory probe cleared Pincher of wrongdoing.
The Tory party has had a number of recent scandals over sexual misconduct which have embarrassed the party.
Earlier this year Tory MP Neil Parish was caught watching pornography in the House of Commons and subsequently quit his post as MP for Tiverton, triggering a by-election which the Tories lost to the LibDems.
And former Tory MP for Wakefield Ahmad Khan quit Parliament in May after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 15 year old boy. The Tories lost the following by-election to the Labour party.
