James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why the Chris Pincher scandal will keep running

It’s worse than the Neil Parish problem

(ParliamentTV)

The Chris Pincher situation is much worse for the government than the Neil Parish one was. Parish was a backbencher, Pincher was – until his resignation – the deputy chief whip and had played a key role in the shadow whipping operation which shored up Boris Johnson at the start of the year.

Given the nature of the allegations against Pincher, it is hard to imagine that he will not have to give up the Conservative whip. Already, senior Tory MPs are publicly calling for him to lose the whip while this matter is investigated. No. 10 is making a mistake by sticking to its line that Pincher’s resignation is a sufficient response to the matter.

The other difficulty for the government is whether Pincher should have been given a job, and particularly one involving discipline, given that, as Tom notes, he had resigned from the whips office in 2017 over allegations about unwanted advances. At the time of the last reshuffle, there was sufficient concern over the appointment that it was referred to the Cabinet Office’s ethics and propriety team. The decision to proceed with the appointment now looks unwise.

Pincher’s resignation adds to the 1990s feel of present events. Much more of this and a 1997-style electoral result will become a distinct possibility. At the moment, all that is standing between the Tories and that situation is the fact that the opposition has not captured the public’s imagination in the way that Tony Blair did in the run-up to that election.

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