Sarah Vine has alleged that she was groped by comedian Harry Enfield at Downing Street over a decade ago, in front of witnesses.
The journalist, who was previously married to Conservative MP Michael Gove, made the claims following allegations that Tory mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski groped a TV producer at No 10.
The claims against Korski, who is a favourite to be the party’s candidate in the next London mayoral election, were made by Daisy Goodwin, the creator of ITV’s hit period drama Victoria. She accuses Korski of touching her breast after a meeting to discuss a potential TV show about trade.
Korski, who was a special advisor to David Cameron at the time, has denied “any allegation of inappropriate behaviour in the strongest possible terms”. You can follow The Independent’s live blog for updates.
Writing in her column for The Daily Mail on Wednesday (28 June), Vine alleged that Goodwin wasn’t the only person to have been groped at No 10.
She writes that she was allegedly groped by Enfield, 62, at a party at Downing Street around late 2010, soon after Cameron was elected and while she was still married to Gove. Vine, 56, says she has “witnesses” to the event.
The columnist said that she’d been chatting with friends when the Kevin & Perry Go Large star joined the conversation. At one point, a gay friend of hers commented that Vine’s breasts looked “rather magnificent”.
Vine (right) pictured with former husband Michael Gove in 2016— (Getty Images)
“Everyone laughed – including Enfield, who concurred,” Vine wrote. “He then said something along the lines of ‘do you mind if I have a go?’ before reaching out, grabbing them in both hands and sort of jiggling them around with a vigorous enthusiasm that, I must confess, rather took me and everyone else by surprise.
“Afterwards, I really wasn’t sure what to make of it. I wasn’t particularly upset – after all, he did it in full view of everyone, so it wasn’t threatening or sinister. But it did rather take the wind out of my sails. In the end, I decided to file it under ‘someone having a bit of fun at my expense’.”
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Soon after, Vine wrote, Enfield acknowledged the incident in a sketch with his comedy partner Paul Whitehouse. In the skit, the comedians play two gentleman’s club members discussing Michael Gove, who they are homophobically speculating is “a queer”.
Enfield, pictured in 2010— (Getty Images)
“I met his wife once, she’s a fine woman,” Enfield’s character says. “I wanted to grope her breasts… Have you seen his wife?... You’d like to grope her breasts, you really would.”
“Maybe that was Enfield’s way of apologising,” Vine wrote. “Or at least acknowledging his behaviour. My point is: life is a rich tapestry, and not all the stitches are even. We do and say things that later, with hindsight, seem more than a shade inappropriate. But does that make us bad people? Not necessarily. 10 years is a long time. People grow and change.”
Enfield has been working as a comedian since the 1980s. Alongside his work with Whitehouse, with whom he created the sketch show Harry & Paul, he is best known for playing King Charles in Channel 4’s royal parody The Windsors.
The Independent has contacted Enfield and Vine’s representatives for comment.
