Ex-Tory MP Aaron Bell reprimanded for ‘drunken’ sexual misconduct

The investigation performed interviews with the complainant, eye witnesses and Bell. It additionally reviewed WhatsApp messages between these concerned.

Bell instructed the investigator “I used to be clearly drunk” and that he couldn’t “recall the whole lot concerning the night”.

The report states: “He stated he remembered touching the complainant’s thigh, “in all probability her waist”, however he denied touching her backside.

“His account was that there was mutual flirting, which led to his touching the complainant.

“However in relation to his suggestion of flirting, he added that: ‘Most likely, to be honest, extra from me to her than the opposite manner spherical’.

“The complainant denied any mutual flirting or encouragement in any manner.”

The complainant instructed the investigator she felt “actually uncomfortable” and referred to as his conduct “extremely brazen”.

Reviewing the investigation, the parliamentary commissioner for requirements stated the MP’s declare of mutual flirting was “contradicted by the complainant’s proof and by that of the 2 eyewitnesses”.

“Additional, the commissioner said that the respondent’s description of the alleged mutual flirting was ‘too basic to be persuasive and, in any occasion, wouldn’t justify touching with out particular consent’,” the report stated.

Bell was first elected to Parliament in 2019, successful the previous Labour stronghold of Newcastle-Beneath-Lyme in Staffordshire.

He was extremely vital of Boris Johnson over his dealing with of the Partygate scandal and in February 2022 referred to as on the then-prime minister to step down.

He served within the whip’s workplace – the crew answerable for managing celebration self-discipline – from November 2023 till July 2024.