No 10 retains cabinet minister and aide accused of sexual misconduct – reports

A cabinet minister and a high-ranking aide at No 10 Downing Street continued to work in Boris Johnson's government despite allegations of sexual misconduct against them, according to reports.

Two women have given first-hand accounts of what they claim happened to them when one was assaulted and the other groped by political figures, both now in senior roles.

A former parliamentary staff member for the Conservative party, who wished to remain anonymous, relayed details of a sexual assault by an MP who is currently a cabinet minister.

She told Sky News's The Open Secret podcast: "I was sexually assaulted by someone who's now a cabinet minister, and I was in my early 20s and didn't really know how to deal with it. I was super drunk. He's feeding me more wine and I'm already quite obviously tanked.

"After a while, I was like 'you know, what, would you mind if I just went to bed?' So I went to bed. But obviously he didn't leave me alone. And then I woke up the next morning and I realised what had happened."

She told colleagues, and the MP she was working for at the time of the incident who encouraged her to report it to the police. But after initial discussions with the police she chose not to proceed further and did not make a formal complaint to the Conservative party. She said: "I was too scared to kickstart that process and risk it spiralling out of control."

A Conservative party spokesperson said: "We have an established code of conduct and complaints procedure where people can report complaints in confidence. We take any complaint seriously.