Grant Shapps was given an £8,000 'golden goodbye' payoff during Tory bullying scandal
The former Tory Chairman resigned amid allegations exposed by the death of activist Elliott Johnson
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A senior Tory who took an £8,000 payoff when he was forced to quit at the height of the 'Tatler Tory' bullying scandal, today faced calls to hand the money back.
Former Conservative Chairman Grant Shapps was given the 'golden goodbye' payment despite saying during the scandal, "the buck should stop with me".
The payment has only emerged now after accounts were published for the Department for International Development, to where he was demoted following the row.
Labour MP John Mann called for Mr Shapps to return the money to taxpayers this morning, saying "nobody should get it".
It comes after a Tory-commissined report into the bullying scandal found that Mr Shapps was responsible for giving activist Mark Clarke a key election campaign role.
Mr Clarke, once tipped for greatness by Tatler magazine, later became subject to allegations of bullying and sexually inappropriate behaviour, all of which he denies.
Among the claims made against him were those by 21-year-old Elliott Johnson in August last year, shortly before he went on to commit suicide.
However, the report said there was no evidence that Mr Shapps had knowledge of the allegations until August 2015.
When he stepped down from his ministerial post under pressure over the scandal, he said: “Whatever the rights and wrongs of a serious case like this, responsibility should rest somewhere.
"Over the past few weeks – as individual allegations have come to light – I have come to the conclusion that the buck should stop with me.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments