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Tory Party Bullying

(105 Posts)
rosesarered Mon 30-Nov-15 10:58:13

And who said it excused anyone btw?

rosesarered Mon 30-Nov-15 10:57:22

It may welll have a bearing whitewave if so, it will come out with an inquiry.There are bullies in ALL political parties, don't be either so naive or so partisan that you think it only happens with Conservatives.

whitewave Mon 30-Nov-15 10:53:58

The young Tories have always been a loose Canon. Remember when Tebbit closed them down?

Of course men get bullied as well as girls. Not sure that the suggestion that the boy in question was " more vulnerable " has any bearing. Easy to pick on?! That is what bullies do pick on the weakest - how does that excuse them?

rosesarered Mon 30-Nov-15 10:41:11

I have a feeling that sadly, this sort of thing happens in all the political parties, particularly with younger members.I don't know the back story to this one, but perhaps this young man was more vulnerable in some way, than normal.Often it seems to be women that are harrassed and bullied, but obviously it happens with men as well.

JessM Mon 30-Nov-15 10:30:26

I was interested that this sad news story eventually hit the press this weekend. It has been discussed on Twitter for a while but little mainstream coverage.
In a nutshell - a young man who was part of an elite Young Conservative team is alleged to have committed suicide as a result of bullying when he was employed to work on the election campaign team or soon thereafter.
I am getting a sense of deja-vu.
Not so long ago the libdems were having serious problems with allegations of sexual harrassment by senior officials.
Many commented at the time that political parties, unlike companies, schools, hospitals etc, do not have proper procedures for dealing with allegations and possible disciplinary matters arising from them. (or indeed anti-bullying policies) Such procedures are there to protect both people involved.
We are now at the interesting stage with this one. There is a coroner's enquiry going on and an internal enquiry in the Tory party. However there is no clear separation between the enquiry and some of those who might be implicated. Grant Shapps has resigned over the weekend but there is talk that there may be more heads rolling in the near future, including one of Cameron's oldest and closest friend, who is party chairman.
My personal theory is that because career politicians have never worked as managers in a non-political organisation they have no experience of working within guidelines and procedures.
A less charitable interpretation is that the political parties are more concerned for their party's reputation than protecting vulnerable volunteers, staff members and junior party members.
For anyone who wants to catch up on this sad story in some detail : www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/nov/27/elliott-johnson-young-tory-destroyed-by-party-he-loved-mark-clarke