‘No way back’: Tory councillors in Tamworth call on Chris Pincher to resign seat

‘This is a resigning matter for him’, says Conservative representative in Tamworth constituency

(PA)

Conservative party councillors in Chris Pincher’s Midlands constituency have called on the MP to resign his seat following sexual misconduct allegations.

Mr Pincher stood down as deputy chief whip and was later suspended by his party over allegations he groped two men in Westminster earlier this week.

The senior figure is also facing six further claims of inappropriate behaviour, with one Tory MP telling The Independent he was groped on two occasions by Mr Pincher since the end of 2021. Mr Pincher firmly denies the claims.

Tory councillors in his Tamworth seat said he should step down as MP for the area following the allegations. “This is a resigning matter for him. If it was any other industry, you’d immediately have to consider your position,” one told the Sunday Telegraph.

Another Tory councillor in Tamworth – where Mr Pincher enjoys a majority of just under 20,000 – described allegations against Mr Pincher as “deeply disappointing”.

The unnamed councillor added: “He’s already had a second chance and there shouldn’t be any way back for him this time, especially as he’s admitted behaving badly.”

Mr Pincher resigned as deputy chief whip on Friday following claims that he groped two men at the Tories’ Carlton Club on Wednesday.

He admitted that he had “embarrassed myself and other people” while being drunk, but denies sexual harassment allegations.

One Tory MP told The Independent he was groped on two occasions by Mr Pincher. The man claims he was targeted twice by Mr Pincher, first in December 2021 and again last month.

The Mail on Sunday alleged he threatened to report a parliamentary researcher to her boss after she tried to stop his “lecherous” advances to a young man at a Tory party conference.

The Sunday Times reported allegations that Mr Pincher had groped a male Tory MP in 2017, made unwanted advances towards a different Tory MP in 2018, and did the same towards a Tory activist in Tamworth in 2019.

Mr Pincher denies all the allegations.

The allegations follow his first resignation in 2017 as a whip over claims he made unwanted advances to Olympic rower Alex Story. After a Tory party investigation into the incident, he was cleared of any breach of its code of conduct.

Boris Johnson is also under growing pressure over his decision to give Mr Pincher a senior role in February, amid claims the PM referred to him as “Pincher by name, pincher by nature”.

Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey denied that male Tory MPs had a particular problem with sexual misconduct, and said she had been told that Mr Johnson did not know “specific allegations” against Mr Pincher.

Asked if the PM knew about concerns over the senior MP, Ms Coffey said: “I’m not aware that [Mr Johnson] was made aware of specific claims. I don’t believe that he was aware – that’s what I’ve been told today.”

Grilled on the BBC Sunday Morning programme about who told her Mr Johnson did not know any specifics, Ms Coffey replied: “Somebody from the No 10 press office. One gets briefed on a wide variety of topics.”