Tory activist ‘appalled’ by party’s response to Mark Menzies claims

The Conservative activist who has accused a Tory MP of making a late-night demand for money has said she is appalled by the party’s response.

Katie Fieldhouse has said Mark Menzies called her one night in December at 3.15am asking for £5,000 to pay “bad people” who had detained him in a flat and were not letting him leave.

She said the party had failed to act after she reported the incident in early January, with Menzies only resigning the whip after it was revealed by the Times this week.

She said she felt let down by the party, which had failed to take any action over her allegations for months after she reported them to Simon Hart, the chief whip.

He resigned the Tory whip on Thursday after a conversation with Hart, and was suspended as a government trade envoy to Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina.

Others have stood down as MPs, including Peter Bone, who was found to have harassed a staff member, and Scott Benton, who was caught offering to lobby ministers in return for money.