MP’s aide ‘raped woman in Parliament’ after champagne-fuelled ‘Tory boy’ bash
A WOMAN was allegedly raped in Parliament after a champagne-fuelled “Tory Boy” party on the terrace of the House of Lords.
Police arrested aide Sam Armstrong, 23, after a woman complained she had been attacked in the office of Tory MP Craig Mackinlay.
Armstrong was among group of around a dozen Tory aides and female guests seen indulging in a marathon drinking session on the night of the alleged attack.
Eyewitnesses said the noisy group downed several bottles of champagne between them.
A bottle of House of Lords champagne costs £32.70 at the luxury Thameside bar which is subsidised by the taxpayer.
A source told The Sun: “There was a big group of rich-looking Tory boys and female guests on the terrace of the House of Lords - Sam Armstrong was with them.
“They got through bottle after bottle of champagne.
“They were very loud, a bit boisterous and some of them were extremely drunk.”
Mr Armstrong, 23, Mackinlay’s chief of staff and press spokesman, was arrested on suspicion of rape on Friday.
The South Thanet MP’s office in the Norman Shaw North complex yards from the Commons was raided by six uniformed officers last week and sealed as a potential crime scene.
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Mr Armstrong has been bailed until January while the police continue their inquiries.
Last night it emerged senior Tories ignored concerns about the suitability of Mr Armstrong for his role as chief of staff to Mr Mackinlay.
The Sun understands former Cabinet minister Rob Halfon complained about Armstrong to Chief Whip Mark Harper earlier this year.
Armstrong had originally been linked with an alleged blackmail attempt against Mr Halfon, who was in then in the Cabinet, over an alleged affair.
An attempt was made to secretly film Mr Halfon leaving the East India Club in Central London after an afternoon tryst with his mistress.
The allegations emerged as part of the “Tatler Tory” bullying scandal which blew up after Mark Clarke was accused of bullying fellow Tory activist Elliott Johnson who later committed suicide.
Armstrong furiously denied any wrong-doing at the time and no further action was taken.
But he was barred from last year’s Tory party conference and allowed to work again for Mr Mackinlay earlier this year.
Mr Halfon is said to have told the Government Whips Office that it was “ridiculous” that Mr Armstrong had been employed.
He urged that the party should cut all ties with Armstrong.
It is thought he also made his view personally known to Craig MacKinlay MP - who employed Mr Armstrong as his Chief of Staff - but nothing was done.
Last night Mr Harper told The Sun that “given the nature of the case and the fact that there is a criminal investigation, I am not going to comment.”
Mr Halfon declined the opportunity to comment.
Clarke - nicknamed the Tatler Tory after the society magazine tipped him for high office - was kicked out of the Tories for life after a storm of bullying allegations engulfed the party last autumn.
Mr Armstrong was banned from the Conservative Party Conference in 2015 but it last night emerged Tory HQ had lifted this bar for this year’s party gathering earlier this month.
On Tory source said last night: “He wasn’t barred - he was there. The ban was quietly lifted.”
Last night a Conservative spokesman said: “It would be inappropriate to comment while a police investigation is taking place.”
But party HQ source said: “We have nothing to do with hiring parliamentary staff.”