‘Chris Pincher groped me as we posed for this picture’: Fundraiser says shamed MP stroked his thigh then grabbed him as they posed for charity photo
- Mark Dabbs, who is straight, claims he was groped at Pincher’s Tamworth office
- He claims Tory began touching him when he was trying to raise cash for hospice
- Boris Johnson faces severe criticism over his knowledge of Pincher’s reputation
- One alleged victim of Chris Pincher’s groping will make statement to the police
A charity fundraiser today claimed that disgraced Tory MP Chris Pincher groped his thigh and bottom and gave him the ‘come on’ including suggestively praising his ‘muscles’ and ‘stamina’ while they posed for the picture below.
Mark Dabbs, who is straight, claims the Conservative began making inappropriate comments and then touching him when he was trying to raise cash for their local hospice in Tamworth, Staffordshire.
He said: ‘When we took a photo he was touching me, then feeling my bottom. He was helping me with my charity work and I think he thought he’d get something in return.’
His claims only emerged after the Tory MP was forced to quit as Boris Johnson’s deputy chief whip after drunkenly groping two men in a London members-only club last week.
The Prime Minister is under huge pressure to reveal what he knew about his MP’s behaviour, given an allegation that Mr Johnson joked in 2020 that he was ‘Pincher by name, Pincher by nature’, long before he made him his deputy chief whip in February.
NHS worker Mr Dabbs is now the seventh person to claim that Pincher was guilty of inappropriate behaviour, and on this occasion Pincher was ‘stone-cold sober’ at the meeting in 2018.
He said: ‘He waited until we were alone and then said some inappropriate things. He said how tall and slim I was, then wanted to know If I had a partner. I said I was a runner. And quick as a flash he replied, “Oh, that’s why you’re so slim”. Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he said, ‘I bet you’ve got stamina’.
‘Then he said to me, “I bet you have strong legs” before starting feeling the top of my thighs. He said I was very muscly. I thought it was all very strange. He was very suggestive. It was vile. I was shocked that an MP would behave in this way.’
MailOnline has asked Mr Pincher to comment.
Mark Dabbs today claimed that disgraced Tory MP Chris Pincher groped him while this picture was taken
The Prime Minister eventually bowed to pressure to remove the whip from his ally after an investigation was launched, meaning Mr Pincher sits as an independent MP
NHS worker Mr Dabbs is now the seventh person to claim that Pincher was guilty of inappropriate behaviour, and on this occasion Pincher was ‘stone-cold sober’ at the meeting in 2018
Mr Dabbs told The Sun that he went to see Pincher to ask if he would be interviewed for a book he was writing to raise money for a hospice.
The allegations of unwanted advances and groping by Chris Pincher dating back a DECADE
2012: A man said he received unwanted advances from Chris Pincher when he was 24, according to The Mail on Sunday.
2017: Mr Pincher quits the whips’ office after it was alleged he made an unwanted pass at Olympic rower and Tory candidate Alex Story. Mr Story said that in 2001, the MP untucked the back of his shirt and massaged his neck. It was also reported that Mr Pincher allegedly made a pass at former Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop, who was said to have told him to ‘f*** off’.
2017 and 2018: Mr Pincher allegedly made unwanted passes at two Conservative MPs after his first resignation as a whip, according to the Sunday Times.
2018: Mark Dabbs claims the Conservative MP began making inappropriate comments and began touching him when he was trying to raise cash for their local hospice in Tamworth, Staffordshire.
Unknown: The MP allegedly threatened to report a parliamentary researcher to her boss after she tried to stop his ‘lecherous’ advances towards a young man at a Conservative Party conference, according to The Mail on Sunday.
2021: A young Tory activist connected to his constituency accused the MP of groping him.
December 2021 and June 2022: A Tory MP told The Independent he was groped on two occasions by Mr Pincher.
July 2022: Mr Pincher quits as Tory deputy chief whip after he is accused of drunkenly groping two men at a private members’ club in London. The whip is later removed.
He said: ‘I just let it go, but wish I hadn’t. Maybe other reported incidents involving the MP wouldn’t have happened if I’d spoken up’.
Mark said Pincher was ‘stone-cold sober’ at the meeting four years ago.
He said: ‘He knew what he was doing. His was the opposite of normal behaviour. He was intimating. He wanted to do something with me, and see me again. He was looking at me in that sexual way, and talking at me in that way.
‘I’m not naïve and know when someone is interested. This was someone giving the “come on”.’
Last night a young Tory activist accusing Chris Pincher of groping him revealed he is planning to make a statement to police.
The new alleged victim, whose accusation adds to the six fresh claims made against the Tamworth MP over the weekend, has told friends that he was ‘touched up’ by Mr Pincher in a car last year.
The man – a constituency member who was trying to get a job in politics at the time – is said to have been so angered by the number of alleged victims that he plans to ‘do something about it’ and go to the police, friends revealed.
It comes as a second alleged victim from the constituency, also not previously known about, is said to have made claims against the former deputy chief whip.
Yesterday, members of Mr Pincher’s Conservative association and voters in Staffordshire called for the MP to stand down.
Mr Pincher, 52, quit as Tory deputy chief whip last week after he was accused of drunkenly groping two men at a private members’ club in London.
The Prime Minister eventually bowed to pressure to remove the whip from his ally after an investigation was launched, meaning Mr Pincher sits as an independent MP.
After several accusations from other alleged victims over the weekend, the Mail has learned that there are further claims from activists in his constituency.
As well as the man who claims he was groped in a car by the former senior Tory, a second alleged victim is said to have been groped by Mr Pincher some time ago.
An association member said: ‘One of the [alleged victims] is planning to go to the police. He was trying to get into politics and that’s how they knew each other.
‘He said last week that he was going to wait to see if anyone else reported similar incidents before going to the police. After seeing the multiple allegations this weekend, he said ‘I’m going to do something about it’. He is very annoyed. He said he couldn’t believe it was still happening.’
Mr Pincher stepped down on Thursday night after a drunken evening in London’s Carlton Club on Wednesday.
Speaking for the first time, one of the alleged victims at the club told The Sunday Times: ‘I had my drink in my hand and then he then went down and grabbed my arse and then slowly… moved his hand down the front of my groin. I froze a little bit and it ended after about two or three seconds. It was a very bizarre thing.’
The alleged victim excused himself and went to the bathroom.
He added: ‘I texted a friend to tell them what happened because I wanted a contemporaneous record.’ The man claimed he approached Sarah Dines, a junior whip, who had witnessed the alleged assault.
The alleged victim added: ‘My first reaction to what had happened was that I wasn’t going to take it any further. I just thought this is something that happens in Westminster. It hasn’t happened to me before. It can be quietly dealt with. But I am angered by the fact that I should feel like that, and even more angry by the way No 10 have dealt with it… I am furious.’
One local councillor in Tamworth said: ‘These stories about Chris’s behaviour weren’t particularly surprising to men within the constituency.’ Asked if a by-election should be held, the councillor, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It’s up to the electorate to voice their opinions. I have a view that he is not a fit and proper person to be an MP – he has admitted to some of this after all.’ But David Salter, another Tory councillor in the constituency, defended Mr Pincher, saying: ‘He’s a brilliant MP and I’ve known him for a long time… I would like him to carry on.’ Mr Pincher was approached for comment.
PM’s allies turn on Theresa May
By Claire Ellicott Political Correspondent and Jason Groves Political Editor for the Daily Mail
A blame game erupted over the appointment of Chris Pincher and what Boris Johnson knew about him when he asked the disgraced MP to become deputy chief whip.
A Cabinet minister claimed that the Prime Minister was not aware of ‘specific claims’ when he gave Mr Pincher the role.
A row has also erupted with allies of the Prime Minister blaming Theresa May for first bringing Mr Pincher back into the whips’ office
However, a series of allegations have now emerged regarding the Tamworth MP.
Sources said Mr Johnson told aides in 2020, long before appointing him to the post: ‘He’s handsy, that’s a problem. Pincher by name, pincher by nature.’ But a row has also erupted with allies of the Prime Minister blaming Theresa May for first bringing Mr Pincher back into the whips’ office after allegations emerged against him in 2017.
The Mail on Sunday revealed in 2017 that the MP had, in 2001, made an unwanted pass at former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate Alex Story, who dubbed Mr Pincher a ‘pound shop Harvey Weinstein’.
But he was allowed back into the fold following an investigation that found he had not breached the code of conduct.
The PM’s supporters said he had no reason to second guess Mrs May’s decision at the time as no further ‘specific allegations’ had been raised with him.
During a round of interviews yesterday, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said: ‘There’d been allegations made in the past. We went through a due process in 2017 and indeed Chris was reappointed by the then Prime Minister Theresa May, in fact promoted, at the time.’ Mr Pincher has denied the claims.
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