Tory mayoral hopeful Dan Korski has denied groping a woman a decade ago while he worked in Downing Street.
Mr Korski, who was a senior aide to David Cameron at the time of the alleged incident, was said by Daisy Goodwin to have touched her breast at the end of a meeting.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Korski said it was a “baseless allegation” from the past and suggested he was the victim of a political attack. “Politics can be a rough and challenging business,” he wrote.
“I categorically deny any wrongdoing.
“It is disheartening to find myself connected to this allegation after so many years, but I want to unequivocally state that I categorically deny any claim of inappropriate behaviour. I denied it when it was alluded to seven years ago and I do so now.”
— Daniel Korski (@DanielKorski) June 27, 2023
But the statement does not make clear whether he plans to continue to seek the Tory nomination nor whether he plans to stand down.
The statement added that no complaint was made at the time of the alleged incident - with Mr Korski saying he was unaware whether there was ever an official complaint.
He added: “To those who have been affected by any form of misconduct or harassment, let me assure you that I stand firmly against such behaviour.
“I am committed to fostering an environment where everyone feels valued, heard and supported.”
Mr Korski’s spokesman had previously said, in response to the allegations, made in a Times article by Ms Goodwin, a novelist and TV producer, that he categorically denied the allegation of inappropriate behaviour “in the strongest possible terms”.
The Tory party’s 20,000-strong London membership is due to start voting next Tuesday, with a winner set to be announced on July 19.
Mr Korski is competing against London Assembly member Susan Hall and criminal barrister Moz Hossain KC for the right to take on Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan in the City Hall elections next May.
The development — which emerged on Monday night, prompting Mr Korski’s early exit from a Tory hustings meeting — appears to secure Ms Hall’s position as frontrunner.
The straight-speaking grandmother is a long-standing party member and former leader of Harrow council and the City Hall Conservatives.
Senior Tory sources told the Standard there was “no chance” that the party would restart the mayoral selection race if Mr Korski dropped out.
Any such move would be unfair to Ms Hall and Mr Hossain, the Standard was told.
Mr Korski, who was David Cameron’s deputy head of policy, was seen as the charismatic pro-Europe candidate who offered “blue sky thinking” and as a successful businessman with links to past Tory successes.
But Ms Goodwin, writing in The Times, said of her meeting with Mr Korski: “When we both stood up at the end of the meeting and went to the door, [he] stepped towards me and suddenly put his hand on my breast. Astonished, I said loudly, ‘Are you really touching my breast?’ [He] sprang away from me and I left.”
The allegation had previously been reported several years ago. Ms Goodwin did not make a formal complaint at the time. She said she had decided to name him now because he was seeking to become the Tory mayoral candidate, and to send a “signal to him, and to all men who mistreat women: don’t think that you will get away with it”.
A Labour backbencher called on Tuesday afternoon for mr Korski to be suspended by the Tory party and for an investigation to be launched,
Marsha De Cordova, the MP for Battersea, said: “The Conservatives must suspend Daniel Korski with immediate effect while they conduct a thorough investigation given the seriousness of sexual assault allegation levelled against him.
“Ignoring these allegations while the Prime Minister claims that tackling sexual violence against women is a priority for his government is disingenuous.
“I hope the Cabinet Office will review its decision not to launch an investigation against Mr Korski - who was a senior government employee at the time of the alleged incident.”
The chaos in the Tory camp strengthened Mr Khan’s chances of winning an historic third term. He won the 2021 election with a 228,433 majority but a switch to first-past-the-post voting and controversies over the imminent Ulez expansion to the Greater London boundary could work against him.
The battle to secure the Tory nomination has already been hit by controversy — first, after the Tory minister for London Paul Scully failed to make the shortlist, and second after the emergence of a partygate video featuring aides working for Mr Hossain.
The footage — of a “jingle and mingle” party held by the previous Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey at Tory headquarters in December 2020 — showed Mr Hossain’s campaign director Ben Mallet and diary secretary Malin Bogue, dancing. At the time, Covid restrictions were in place.
Despite the furore, and the subsequent decision of the police to reopen its investigation, Mr Hossain, who has vowed to be tough on crime, said he would not sack his staff.
“I’ve spoken to them and they are full of remorse,” he told the Mail on Sunday. “I like to give people second chances.”
Mr Korski, who became a tech entrepreneur after leaving Downing Street, is married to Fiona Mcilwham, a former British ambassador and ex-private secretary to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. They have two children and live in Primrose Hill.
Tory chiefs were understood to be waiting to see if Ms Goodwin makes a complaint to police before deciding whether to activate the party’s disciplinary mechanisms.
A Tory party spokesman said: “The Conservative Party has an established Code of Conduct and formal processes where complaints can be made in confidence.
“The party considers all complaints made under the Code of Conduct but does not conduct investigations where the Party would not be considered to have primary jurisdiction over another authority."
