Elliott’s parents, Ray and Alison Johnson, planned last year to boycott a ‘biased’ inquiry on the bullying claims [Image: David Levene for the Guardian].

What a shame Mr Semple had to be persuaded to do it by the weight of opinion against him.

But then, perhaps that is just a reflection of wider Tory attitudes.

A Conservative official has stepped aside from the investigation into the death of Elliott Johnson and the youth wing of the party following pressure from the Tory activist’s parents.

Rob Semple, chair of the Tory volunteers’ organisation, the National Convention, was on the board which was due to consider a report by the law firm Clifford Chance. However Semple had been named by up to 15 potential witnesses as the reason why they would not give evidence.

The inquiry is to look at events linked to Johnson’s reported suicide and to the alleged activities of Mark Clarke, a Tory election aide who ran the Road Trips campaign, transporting young activists around the country.

Johnson, a Nottingham University graduate and an activist with the rightwing campaign group Conservative Way Forward, was found on railway tracks on 15 September 2015.

Source: Tory bullying inquiry: official seen as ‘witness obstacle’ steps down | Politics | The Guardian

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