Labour frontbencher ‘made vulgar sexual comments to female MP’

Welsh MP reveals male shadow cabinet member said men wanted to sleep with her

A female Labour MP has claimed that a member of Sir Keir Starmer’s frontbench team made vulgar sexual comments about men wanting to sleep with her.

The unnamed Welsh MP told the BBC that the incident happened at an event where she was complimented on being a “rising star” of her party.

She claimed a male shadow cabinet member then described her as “a secret weapon. Women want to be her friend and men want to **** her. She is a vote winner”.

The MP told the broadcaster that she felt it was not in her interests to reveal her identity or make a formal complaint to the party.

Labour said if a complaint was made would be taken “extremely seriously” and fully investigation.

“The Labour Party takes all complaints extremely seriously. They are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate action is taken.”

Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “It’s needs to be investigated ... I would expect the Labour party to look into that.”

The senior Labour figure said all the experiences shared by female MPs this week were “shocking and disgusting” and revealed the underlying “misogyny” at Westminster.

It comes as the Tory party’s chief whip has called for an independent investigation by a Commons watchdog after the allegations about an unnamed MP watching porn in the chamber.

A female minister who said she was sat next to the unnamed colleague at the time told colleagues about the incident at a meeting of Tory MPs in Westminster on Tuesday night.

Chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris said on Wednesday night that the claim made by two MPs should be referred to parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) – the watchdog set up in the wake of the Me Too movement.

But it is up to individuals to make complaints, and it is not yet clear if the two female MPs who claim to have witnessed their colleague watching porn will make a formal complaint to the ICGS.

Home Office minister Rachel Maclean said the Tory MP who allegedly watched porn in the chamber should be expelled from the party if the claims are correct.

She told Sky News: “It’s just gruesome. None of us could believe our ears when we heard of this allegation … It is completely and utterly shocking and unacceptable. There is no place for this in our party.”

Tuesday’s meeting was reportedly attended by between 40 and 50 Tory MPs, including Mr Heaton-Harris, Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden and Commons Leader Mark Spencer.

The meeting came amid reports 56 MPs, including three cabinet ministers, are facing allegations of sexual misconduct referred to the ICGS.

It also follows outrage over the Mail On Sunday publishing “sexist” and disputed claims from unnamed Tory MPs that deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner tried to distract Boris Johnson with her legs during PMQs.

Meanwhile, Tory MP Fay Jones has shared the “deluge” of misogynistic emails after an appearance on the BBC’s Newsnight last week. “They told me what a ‘stupid little *****’ I was and comments along those lines,” she said. Ninety-nine per cent of them came from men.”