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Tory Party Bullying

(106 Posts)
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

durhamjen Sun 21-Aug-16 16:17:52

www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/conservative-party/news/78301/theresa-may-thanked-%E2%80%98tatler-tory%E2%80%99-2014

obieone Sun 21-Aug-16 09:06:09

I quite agree Anniebach. I and others are fighting against one. A whitewash.

Yes durhamjen, a proper inquiry I think is needed.

Anniebach Sun 21-Aug-16 08:49:40

Seems internal enquiries are becoming the norm.

durhamjen Sun 21-Aug-16 00:40:21

A need for a proper inquiry instead of an internal one?
The parents of the lad who committed suicide would not take part in it as he feared a whitewash and that's what it was.
Mark Clarke wouldn't give evidence, either, and he was the one accused of bullying.
How can they put out a report when the main protagonist does not take part?

Most people when they resign because they haven't done their job properly do not get a pay off.

JessM Thu 18-Aug-16 22:25:36

At last the chap appointed by the tories to investigate their own bullying scandal has reported and the issue has surfaced again. Seems Shapps resigned under a cloud but still got 3 months salary payoff.
www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/18/senior-tory-grant-schapps-received-pay-off-bullying-scandal?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

obieone Wed 17-Aug-16 18:59:20

And some people downplay or turn a blind eye to it.

obieone Wed 17-Aug-16 18:57:24

That is dreadful.
I have realised that some bullies will deny and deny, no matter how much evidence there is.

durhamjen Wed 17-Aug-16 18:35:40

www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/17/inquiry-into-tory-bullying-scandal-finds-13-alleged-victims-of-mark-clarke

thatbags Wed 01-Jun-16 09:08:39

I know people often don't like links, but I thought I'd share this from today's Times. It's an article plus the suicide Elliott Johnson wrote to his parents.

JessM Wed 01-Jun-16 08:06:30

Grant Shapps has already lost his job as joint chair of the Tory party and Mark Clarke kicked out of the party. But does this stop it happening again?
I'm not sure the parents of the young man are ready to let it rest rosesarered? We may hear more from them. They may want to know who else was sanctioning the bullying and harassment that went on. And do you think it's OK if political parties behave to their workers and volunteers in a way that would not be either legal, or, tolerated, in a normal workplace?
Nobody is forcing you to re-join the discussion.

daphnedill Tue 31-May-16 19:48:34

I hope the bullying is investigated separately. I'm fed up with people getting away with all sorts of wrong-doing and then creeping back into another well-paid job as soon as the outcry has died down. It really is about time people in high office were accountble for what they do and pay the price if they overstep the mark. Bullying is a hateful activity which can scar a person's life and we should stop turning a blind eye.

PS. What happened to Lucy Allan?

durhamjen Tue 31-May-16 18:54:33

It's going to be part of the Tory election fraud enquiry. He was involved in that.

daphnedill Tue 31-May-16 18:51:28

So it can happen again?

rosesarered Tue 31-May-16 18:09:33

How about ... Let it rest in peace ( this thread) ?

JessM Tue 31-May-16 17:32:20

And at last the inquest has been held and found that the poor young man killed himself. We should start wondering when we will hear from the Tory party enquiry into these events, if ever.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-36417699?ocid=socialflow_twitter&ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_source=twitter

JessM Tue 15-Mar-16 18:37:22

Well without any help from us, this story is about to walk again because the inquest is coming up this month.

POGS Sun 28-Feb-16 15:41:54

thatbags

My post re 'ressurecting' was not addressing your post which was a perfectly reasonable point to mention. [peace emoticon]

Ana Sun 28-Feb-16 13:30:11

For anyone who wants to read it.

Ana Sun 28-Feb-16 13:28:48

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3464962/Tatler-Tory-victim-rowed-parents-gay-Activist-suicide-sparked-bullying-scandal-battled-depression-years-police-report-finds.html

durhamjen Sun 28-Feb-16 13:13:19

The article seems to have been removed from the Telegraph website.

thatbags Sun 28-Feb-16 13:10:22

And I mean unnecessary judgmentalism, that which seems a bit 'previous' or unpleasantly partial, not the kind that judges certain things to be wrong. Witholding judgment about practices such as FGM would be wrong in my view, for instance.

And, of course, any bullying of Elliott Johnson was wrong and should be judged so and dealt with, but my thread 'resurrection' was simply adding some facts that, until I read them the other day (was it yesterday?), I didn't know, and which to my mind questioned the statement in the Guardian title on how the young man had been "destroyed".

thatbags Sun 28-Feb-16 13:04:30

I'm judging judgmentalism that I see in some posts and in the title of the Guardian article in the OP.

POGS Sun 28-Feb-16 12:49:00

Many threads are ' resurrected' are they not!

If there is more to add then I will agree with the Speaker's mantra. 'I want to her what so and so has to say". "I want to hear what thatbags has to say"

If threads are 'resurrected' just to keep an argument going or in a lot of cases for someone to continue trying to prove a point he/she is an orical/smart ass then they are a turn off.

rosesarered Sun 28-Feb-16 12:29:58

Cases like this are usually not as simple as they first appear.

rosesarered Sun 28-Feb-16 12:28:38

It has been acknowledged by the Father that his son had some mental health problems.