A GB News pundit has said she was “bullied out of the Conservative Party” in a video recorded through tears and posted online.
Sophie Corcoran, 20, who appears on the Jeremey Vine show on Channel 5, and ITV’s Good Morning Britain as a right-wing commentator, has accused party colleagues of bullying her for having “worked in KFC” and for where she is from.
In a video posted to her Twitter account on Wednesday, Durham University student Corcoran – who stood unsuccessfully as a councillor for the party in 2021 – revealed she had quit the Tories over what she characterised as a sustained campaign of bullying and harassment.
I've been bullied out of the @Conservatives party. A statement. @Young_Tories @CYoungWomen @cwowomen pic.twitter.com/caHagjTqiz
— Sophie Corcoran (@sophielouisecc) August 24, 2022
She accused the party of “punishing” her when she raised concerns against the alleged bullies in a group Corcoran said was linked to the Tory youth branch the Young Conservatives.
Her party conference pass was revoked for speaking up, she said.
Tory HQ said Corcoran asked for the pass to be refunded following an investigation into her allegations, which were not upheld.
Corcoran, originally from Thurrock, Essex, also ran unsuccessfully for the university’s student union earlier this year, accused the party of merely paying lip service to attracting “more working-class people and more women” into politics.
She claimed to have been subjected to bullying in a “Young Conservatives-affiliated” online group chat.
Corcoran said: “This is not really a video I wanted to make. I’ve tried to deal with it privately but I’ve effectively been bullied out of the Conservative Party.
“For months and months on end a [Young Conservatives]-affiliated group have been bullying me relentlessly on official group chats saying, you know, I look like I’ve been Chinese burned, consistently slagging off the way I look, and making jokes about the way I look, where I’m from, the fact I’ve worked in KFC, and just generally harassing me in that group chat.
“Some of those individuals have made it impossible for me to go to the Conservative Association in Durham, because of their like obsessive bullying – it is bullying at this point.
“After months and months, I reached the end of my tether because it was seriously impacting me mentally and making me want to leave politics, so I went to the party for support and they decided that they’re going to do nothing except revoke my conference pass and punish me instead of the people who they should be punishing, as they are too cowardly to deal with bullying.
“I’ve provided literally loads of screenshots and I had many witnesses of outright, clear bullying – like this is clear as day – so now I have no choice but to leave the party that I’ve been a member of since I was 16, as I’ve been punished for trying to get support against bullying.
“They pretended, and they pretend and they wax lyrical about wanting more working-class people and more women in politics but they don’t care about the fact that one of their most notable [Young Conservatives], let’s be honest, who is a working class woman has been bullied out of the party and out of politics altogether.”
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “We take any allegation of bullying incredibly seriously and have a long-established complaints procedure.
"A complaint was received and assessed. On the basis of the evidence provided, the complaint could not be upheld.
"The complainant requested their conference pass be refunded, and this request was fulfilled.”
The Durham University Conservative Society was approached for comment.
