The Fall of Boris Johnson The Full Story by Sebastian Payne

Author:Sebastian Payne [Payne, Sebastian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2022-10-28T17:00:00+00:00

6. Drinks at the Carlton Club

On Thursday evenings, after parliament has wrapped up for the day, a certain partying sort of Conservative MP heads to the Carlton Club. Situated halfway up St James’s Street, one of London’s most salubrious addresses, membership is open to those who pledge a vow to Conservative values, and it is considered a safe space for Tories. Around 1,500 members pay fees1 of £1,700 a year for the privilege of membership, which allows access to its luxurious dining rooms and bars named after former prime ministers. Having long given up any formal role in the party, many of its fundraising activities are directed towards elections.

The Carlton has long had a dubious reputation. The Duke of Wellington once remarked,2 ‘Never write a letter to your mistress and never join the Carlton Club.’ It lacks the social cache of, say, the nearby Boodle’s gentlemen’s club, or the strong ties to the governing class as the Travellers Club. For newly elected MPs, however, it is an embodiment of the party’s illustrious past – as well as somewhere to relax without interlopers earwigging on any plotting. In January 2022, serial Johnson critic William Wragg (a member of the 1922 executive) was reported3 to be ‘holding court’ one night with a hundred fellow MPs at the club supposedly to discuss the ongoing partygate revelations and whether Johnson should be challenged. Nadine Dorries, culture secretary and arch-Johnson loyalist, also happened to be in the club.

Underneath the grand staircase of 69 St James’s Street, there is an ‘inviting corner’ of dark leather armchairs beneath the Tory blue carpeted staircase. One observer* described the area as ‘The spot where male members could stand to stare up the skirts of female guests walking up and down the stairs.’ And it was here where Chris Pincher, Boris Johnson’s deputy chief whip, ended up late on Thursday 29 June as part of a typical cabal of Tory MPs and acquaintances who had gone to the Carlton for drinks after parliament had finished sitting. The club was busy that night as a party was being held in aid of the Conservative Friends of Cyprus.4

Born in September 1969,5 Pincher was first elected to parliament in 2010 for the seat of Tamworth in Staffordshire, which he won from the Labour party. A compact, bearded and impeccably dressed MP, his innate love of parliament and the political game meant he was destined for the whips’ office. He became a junior whip in July 2016, rising up to become assistant chief whip. But Pincher’s career came to an abrupt halt when Alex Story, a former Olympic rower-turned-Tory candidate, alleged he had massaged his neck and discussed ‘his future in the Conservative party’ before changing into a bathrobe. Story described6 him as a ‘pound shop Harvey Weinstein’. Pincher was also alleged to have made advances towards Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop who told him7 to ‘fuck off’. Following the allegations of these unwanted advances, Pincher promptly resigned from the whips’ office and referred himself for an official investigation.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.