Labour MP accuses shadow minister of sexually assaulting her after summer party
A Labour MP has reported a shadow minister to the police for allegedly assaulting her.
The unnamed woman claims she was attacked after a London summer party in July 2021.
She informed several senior members including at least one other shadow minister, Tortoise Media first reported.
She said she was encouraged to make a formal complaint by colleagues, but decided against it in the end.
This is because she was worried the man she was accusing was too popular in the party for her to go public about her claim, she explained.
But the MP has since reached out to the Metropolitan Police in recent weeks, and said she has also reportedly spoken to Labour whips about a ‘wider pattern of behaviour’.
Nevertheless, she does not want the complaint pursued further at this time.
Two other sources confirmed to the publication that the woman had told them what allegedly happened to her shortly afterwards.
The Labour Party said: ‘We take any allegations of this sort very seriously and would always encourage individuals to go to the parliamentary process, the Labour Party process or the police.
‘In terms of the Labour Party process, it is a thorough, robust and independent process that individuals can have confidence in.’
The Met said: ‘In March 2023, police received a report that a woman was sexually assaulted by a man in London in July 2021. At the victim’s request the incident will not now be investigated at this time.’
Just yesterday, Politico reported a senior aide to the Labour Party was allowed to keep his job after a groping claim was upheld by two separate investigations.
The man, who is currently an adviser to someone on the front bench, is said to have groped an intern 20 years his junior.
The woman made a formal complaint internally and the man was told to write an apology letter.
She also officially reported it to the Labour Party in the early 2000s, and she had to follow up on the result after she heard nothing back for a whole year.
Eventually, the woman was told her accusation had been upheld with the man given a ‘final warning’.
She said: ‘This ordeal has made me feel let down twice — by the man who chose to make me feel intimidated and vulnerable in my workplace, and by the party which appears to be content to let him keep his job and risk other young women facing the same experience.’
Labour insisted to Politico that it ‘treats all complaints of sexual misconduct very seriously,’ and said all reports are ‘fully investigated’.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.