Boris Johnson was told of a complaint against Conservative MP Chris Pincher two years before promoting him, a minister said, in a major concession from the government after days of speculation about what the U.K. prime minister knew and when.
An internal probe into Pincher’s conduct when he was a Foreign Office minister in October 2019 found he had “caused a high level of discomfort” to an unnamed staff member but “meant no harm,” Cabinet Office Minister Michael Ellis told the House of Commons on Tuesday. Pincher apologized and Johnson was made aware in late 2019, he said.
“Last week when fresh allegations arose, the prime minister did not immediately recall the conversation in late 2019 about this incident,” Ellis said. “As soon as he was reminded, the No. 10 press office corrected their public lines.”
