The Conservative Party’s deputy chief whip resigned tonight after being accused of groping two men while drunk last night.
Chris Pincher admitted in his resignation letter that he had ’embarrassed himself and other people’ by drinking too much at the Tory private members club in London.
Mr Pincher has been the Tamworth MP since 2010, and he was appointed deputy chief whip in February of this year.
T he letter 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.’
The Sun reports that Mr Pincher was drinking at the Tory Party private members club – the Carlton Club – in Piccadilly when he is said to have assaulted two fellow guests.
Mr Pincher’s resignation in such dramatic circumstances is a further setback for the Prime Minister, who has been dogged by allegations of misconduct in Downing Street lockdown parties.
Last February, the Tamworth MP was appointed alongside chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris to strengthen party discipline amid discontent among MPs about how the Government was being run.
It is his second resignation from the whips’ office; he resigned as a junior whip in November 2017 after a complaint that he made an unwanted pass at former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate Alex Story.
He is alleged to have tried to untuck the shirt of Mr Story after persuading him to come back to his London home, as well as massaging his neck while saying: ‘You will go far in the Conservative Party.’
Mr Story told the Mail on Sunday that at one point Mr Pincher left the room, saying ‘let me just slip into something more comfortable’, before returning in a bathrobe ‘like a pound shop Harvey Weinstein’.
A Conservative Party investigation cleared him of wrongdoing.
After filing complaints with both the police and the Conservative Party, he was reinstated as deputy chief whip by Theresa May in January 2018.
When Mr Johnson became Prime Minister in July 2019, he was appointed Minister for Europe and the Americas before returning to the whips office for the third time.
His departure comes just days after Oliver Dowden resigned as party co-chairman following the by-election losses in Wakefield, Tiverton, and Honiton.
It leaves Mr Johnson, who returned from the Nato summit on Thursday after a nine-day absence, with another headache as he fills two critical roles.
The Carlton Club is a private members-only venue founded in 1832 by senior Conservatives. Conservative leaders are traditionally granted lifetime membership, which was previously restricted to men until a rule change implemented by David Cameron in 2008.
Prior to that, Margaret Thatcher was the only full female member, having been granted honorary membership when she became party leader in 1975.
Due to its exclusive membership, which only allows members and guests of members, the club is a popular spot for Conservative MPs to drink after Parliament.
Mr Pincher is unlikely to lose his party whip, so he will continue to serve as a Conservative MP, avoiding a by-election for the party.
Chris was first elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Tamworth in May 2010, and was re-elected with a majority of 19,364 in December 2019.