Stanley Johnson: Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries says she 'doesn't believe' PM's father inappropriately touched fellow Tory MP Caroline Nokes

[ad_1]

A government minister has defended Stanley Johnson, calling him “a gentleman” after a fellow Conservative Party MP accused the prime minister’s father of inappropriately touching her.

Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, said she “didn’t believe” what Caroline Nokes had accused the former MEP of.

In response to the remarks, Ms Nokes said she was “sorry” the member of the government had “denounced” her – and hoped the remarks would not deter other women from coming forward with “experiences of public sexual harassment”.

Ms Nokes had previously told Sky News that Stanley Johnson had smacked her “about as hard as he could” on her backside at the Conservative Party Conference in Blackpool in 2003.

She told Sky News: “I can remember a really prominent man – at the time the Conservative candidate for Teignbridge in Devon – smacking me on the backside about as hard as he could and going, ‘oh, Romsey, you’ve got a lovely seat’.”

Sky News approached Stanley Johnson – now 81 – for comment in relation to the allegation. He said: “I have no recollection of Caroline Nokes at all – but there you go. And no reply… Hey ho, good luck and thanks.”

Speaking to the Daily Mail today, Ms Dorries said: “I don’t believe it happened.”

She added: “I have known Stanley for 15 years. He is a gentleman. It never happened to me. Maybe there is something wrong with me.”