More evidence has emerged seeming to contradict Lord Feldman’s claim that he was “wholly unaware” of bullying allegations against Mark Clarke before August 2015. Newsnight say Tory MP Ben Howlett, then a young party activist, handed a dossier of bullying allegations – including claims against Clarke – to Feldman and Sayeeda Warsi in 2010. This appears to finally explain what Howlett meant when he said Feldman had known about Clarke “for a very long period of time”. Howlett himself is still staying silent. If Feldman was really handed a dossier containing claims about Clarke in 2010, why did he say he was “wholly unaware” before August 2015?

This Facebook post from former CCHQ aide Michael Lunn is also curious. Lunn was seen as a fixer for Conservative Future in Tory HQ between 2007 and 2010. Guido is told that he dealt with complaints about Clarke as far back as 2008. His testimony would surely show that CCHQ knew about the claims against Clarke for years, yet for some strange reason the Tories’ own internal inquiry failed to call him. Despite Feldman’s claims to the contrary, more and more evidence is coming to light that he and CCHQ knew about Clarke not for months, but for years…