Days after being suspended as a Tory MP over claims that he touched two men, former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher has been accused of six further instances of improper conduct.
The accusations date back more than ten years.
Mr. Pincher, an MP for Tamworth in Staffordshire, claims he is looking for specialized medical care and has no plans to step down from his position.
He didn’t comment to the BBC, but he told reporters that the accusations were false.
Three instances in which Mr. Pincher is claimed to have made unwanted approaches toward male MPs, as well as in a bar in parliament and in his own parliamentary office, are included in the charges reported in the Independent, the Mail on Sunday, and the Sunday Times.
No formal complaints were ever filed about him.
One of the MPs reportedly spoke with Downing Street in February, detailing what he claimed had occurred to him and expressing his worries that Mr. Pincher would be appointed a party whip, with control of the welfare and regulation of other MPs.
Whips, who are in charge of upholding party discipline, try to ensure that all MPs who support them vote in accordance with party lines in Parliament.
According to Downing Street, when Boris Johnson named Mr. Pincher deputy chief whip in February, he was not informed of any particular charges.
Therese Coffey, the secretary for labor and pensions, stated that she was “advised this morning” that the prime minister “did not know of particular claims” regarding the appointment.
She clarified that although she had received the promise from “someone from the No 10 press office,” she had not talked with Mr. Johnson directly.
She previously stated in an interview with Sky News that the appointment “went through vetting procedure like normal.”
The initial implication from No. 10 following the deputy chief whip’s resignation was that the prime minister thought the situation was resolved.
However, Mr. Pincher’s Conservative whip was lifted on Friday as a result of his complaint to the House of Commons’ conduct inspector; as a result, he will now serve as an independent MP.
On Wednesday night, Mr. Pincher claimed he “drank much too much,” “embarrassing myself and others, and I am really sorry for the upset I caused.”
“I have accepted that I will benefit from professional medical treatment,” Mr. Pincher said in a statement, adding that “the stressors of the last few days, coming on top of those during the last many months, have forced me accept that.”
According to Ms. Coffey, Mr. Johnson took “decisive action” on Friday to suspend Mr. Pincher.
Jonathan Reynolds, the shadow business secretary for Labour, however, said to Sky that the Conservatives had chosen “what is politically expedient over what is good” as their motivation.
Independent investigators look into complaints against MPs and might offer suggestions for future action. MPs would need to vote on the matter if they choose to suspend or expel the MP.
After being accused of beginning inappropriate approaches to Conservative activist and former Olympic rower Alex Story, Mr. Pincher withdrew from his post as a whip in 2017.
However, a party investigation revealed that he had not broken any of the party’s behavior guidelines.
