Yesterday afternoon the judgement in Ms A’s employment tribunal case against Mike Hill, the former Labour MP for Hartlepool, was finally handed down. Ms A has been awarded compensation of £435,000 for Hill’s sexual harassment of her and the termination of her employment. Unfortunately for Hill, his defence lawyers have used almost all of the taxpayer-funded IPSA insurance policy cover, so the claim will fall on him personally. It is unlikely that he has the funds or assets to pay the award. Hill will therefore be facing potential personal bankruptcy. Ms A’s lawyers are also looking to claim against the Labour Party to whom she complained about the sexual harassment she was suffering, and who she believes did nothing to help or protect her. Co-conspirators may recall that the then Shadow Minister Kate Hollern had to quit Starmer’s front bench following testimony made to the employment tribunal that she tried to intimidate a witness as part of a cover-up.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen accused Hollern of warning him not to get involved in the harassment case after the parliamentary staffer informed him of allegations of sexual impropriety. In her witness statement Ms A said:
“Andrew Bridgen called me to tell me that Kate Hollern had approached him in parliament and pulled him to one side. Mr Bridgen told me Ms Hollern tried to warn him off from helping me by using scare tactics. Ms Hollern said that many in the Labour Party were of the opinion that Mr Bridgen and I were having an affair and she advised him to keep away from me as it would be a shame if it got out in the papers as he had a lovely wife and new baby – Mr Bridgen told her she was talking nonsense and to go away.”
Hollern, still a serving MP, had to resign after Bridgen gave evidence for Ms A that Hollern tried to intimidate him to dissuade him from supporting Ms A. Speaking to Guido this morning Bridgen says:
“I am delighted that the employment tribunal has awarded Ms A considerable compensation for what must have been intolerable treatment by her employer. … It cannot be just that her award is not discharged in full especially given she was the victim of sexual harassment as a result of her employment in Parliament. If the award is not discharged in full it would also send a terrible message to any other member of an MPs staff who find themselves in a similar situation.”
The history of serial cover-up attempts by the Labour Party in this case is particularly shameful…
Download the full judgement: [PDF]
A central London employment tribunal has found that the former Labour MP for Hartlepool Mike Hill “marginalised” and “sexually assaulted” his parliamentary staff member Ms A, after he climbed into bed with her, then made her redundant after she rejected his advances and declarations of love.
Ms A told the tribunal that Hill, who was married at the time, conducted a campaign of sexual harassment and bullying over a 16-month period which included “rubbing his erection against her” 11 December 2017 and “sexual assaults on occasions at the Westminster office”. On March 16th 2021 Guido revealed that Hill would resign as an MP, a move which prompted the Hartlepool by-election won by Conservative MP Jill Mortimer…
In a statement released through her solicitor Ms A said she was “extraordinarily disappointed” with how the Labour Party dealt with the complaint. In March Guido reported that Hill was re-admitted to the Labour Party one month after his suspension in what looked like a cover-up. Additionally Kate Hollern resigned from the shadow cabinet after allegedly trying to isolate Ms A for making the allegations against Mike Hill. Suzanne McKie, Ms A’s legal advisor, said her client was now likely to make contact with the police regarding Hill’s behaviour…
Lindsay Hoyle today banned Mike Hill from parliament after an independent expert panel found he had breached Parliament’s sexual misconduct policy before quitting earlier this year. Two complaints were upheld by the IEP against the former Hartlepool MP relating to sexual misconduct; the findings of which were told to Hill in March, 11 days prior to Guido revealing his resignation.
Because of his resignation, the panel were unable to sanction him, however warned had he not “a significant sanction would have been under consideration”
“In the light his resignation however, the sub-panel concluded that no available sanction met the facts of this case and the specific circumstances of the Responder. They therefore did not impose or recommend a sanction”
The Speaker has, however, stripped Hill of his right to a former Member’s pass. Just one month after imposing the same sanction on Jared O’Mara…
Read the damning report in full:
Shadow Minister Kate Hollern has quit Starmer’s front bench following testimony made to the employment tribunal into former Hartlepool MP Mike Hill’s behaviour towards a staff member. Earlier this afternoon Andrew Bridgen accused Hollern of warning him not to get involved in the harassment case after the parliamentary staffer informed him of allegations of sexual impropriety.
In her witness statement the victim said:
“Andrew Bridgen called me to tell me that Kate Hollern had approached him in parliament and pulled him to one side. Mr Bridgen told me Ms Hollern tried to warn him off from helping me by using scare tactics. Ms Hollern said that many in the Labour Party were of the opinion that Mr Bridgen and I were having an affair and she advised him to keep away from me as it would be a shame if it got out in the papers as he had a lovely wife and new baby – Mr Bridgen told her she was talking nonsense and to go away.”
During a virtual hearing today, Mr Bridgen said he was aware of the allegations and was told not to get involved. Hollern threatened him that the Labour Party would smear him as having an affair with the victim. At the time Hollern was Corbyn’s PPS…
If you want to help the victim get justice she has a crowd funder here.
As Guido pointed out when breaking the news on Tuesday, Hartlepool MP Mike Hill will conveniently bow out just before his pending sexual harassment tribunal in May. The story is a squalid one that Guido spent time highlighting last year: Labour removed the whip in September 2019 when the allegations from a former member of staff surfaced, only to then restore it under false pretences of the complaint being withdrawn in order for the Corbyn-friendly MP to stand in the 2019 election. The complaint was never withdrawn, merely “parked” pending the outcome of an investigation by the Commons complaint committee…
Suzanne McKie QC, who’s representing the claimant, has now come out swinging; attacking the Labour Party as having been in “radio silence” for the past 18 months, and slamming both Corbyn and Starmer for failing to offer support to her client – at the cost of “significant distress, lost employment and had not had access to counselling”. Labour has massive questions to answer about their handling of the case – whether Hill is in or out of the Commons…
After catching wind of the strong rumours last night, Labour has confirmed to Guido that Hartlepool MP Mike Hill is quitting as MP.
Hill has been going through a sexual harassment complaint by a former staffer, due to go to an employment tribunal in mid-May – Guido understands the resignation is related. Labour has apparently been desperate to avoid a north east constituency by-election date on May 6th given Boris’s current vaccine bounce…
UPDATE: Sources close to the Reform Party leader, Richard Tice, say he is “actively considering the matter” of standing in the seat he fought in the 2019 general election. Labour had a majority of 3,595. The Brexit Party in the constituency got 10,603 in 2019. The question for Tice is where will all them Brexit votes go?
UPDATE II: Dodds says the by-election will be “challenging”
