Suspicion was cast over innocent Tories and a stream of damaging headlines were printed in the four days between claims of a porn-watching MP being aired and Neil Parish’s resignation.
The senior backbencher’s initial silence, followed by insistence he would stay in the job after he was unmasked, have all helped prolong the torrid affair for the Conservatives.
Criticism has also been aired at the Tory whips for taking days to suspend him, and all this in the run-up to the local elections.
