Tory activist accused of bullying young suicide victim claims pair were in relationship

Andre Walker, who was named in the suicide note of the young Conservative Elliott Johnson, has claimed he was in a relationship with the 21-year-old up until his death in September of last year.

This is the latest twist in the so-called ‘Tatler Tory’ controversy, which laid the blame for Johnson’s suicide at the feet of former Conservative party activist Mark Clarke.

Clarke – who was named as a future Tory star by Tatler magazine in 2008 – created the Road Trip campaigning group at the last election, which took young Conservative activists around the country on a bus. He was later accused of negligence and misconduct after allegations of widespread bullying, sexual harassment and blackmailing within the group were exposed in several newspapers last November.

This followed Johnson’s apparent suicide on 15 September 2015. A note left by the young Convervative said he found himself “on the work scrapheap” and that he had been “bullied by Mark Clarke and betrayed by Andre Walker.”

Clarke has been accused of bullying Johnson, or at the least instance ignoring ill-treatment by others. He strongly refuted this, but has been banned from the Conservative party for life in the wake of the incident. MP Grant Shapps also resigned as a minister of state over the issue.

Ahead of the inquest into Johnson’s death which opens on 2 March, his father Ray spoke to Sunday Politics and addressed rumours that his son was gay, had suffered from mental health problems, and had attempted suicide before. He denied that there had been any difficulty between himself and his son, over his sexuality.

“When Elliott told us he thought he might be gay at about 16, we did what any loving parents would do: we talked about it to him and tried to help,” his father says. “He wasn’t sure himself at first…We told him not to rush it. I have many gay friends. All we wanted was for our son to be happy.”

Asked whether his son had attempted suicide before, his father said: “‘We believe it was more a cry for help. The evidence that he had really tried to kill himself was not conclusive. On one occasion, he said he had eaten poisonous yew leaves – but the hospital found no evidence.” He added that his son had got over his mental health problems a few years ago, and was happy in his life.

“He was more mature and when he got a job with Conservative Way Forward in June, it was a dream come true. He was working in politics, getting paid for it and living in London. He had never been happier.”

He also allowed the Mail on Sunday to publish the suicide note which named Clarke and Walker, and an audio recording of the three of them talking together at a south London pub.

In the audio recording released, Johnson is heard to confront Clarke, who suggests he can taint the young man’s career in politics, and he is also threatened by Walker – who was previously forced to resign as a political adviser in 2010 after a video emerged in which he was seen to be plotting a smear campaign against another politician.

“He was small but you can hear his courage,” his father said. “Elliott told Clarke to his face that he was a disgrace. I felt immensely proud of my son when I listened to it.”

Now, Andre Walker has also spoken out about the true nature of his relationship with Johnson. Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Politics this weekend (Feb 28,) he revealed the pair had been in a relationship up until Johnson’s death.

“We hit it off straight away and the relationship started pretty soon after that and it lasted until the day he died, as far as I was concerned,” he said. “The reason that I have been coy about that is because I know that saying that will upset the family and I’m very sorry about that.” He added: “It’s not my intention to go out and upset and offend people.”

In what appears to be a comment directed at the Johnson family, Walker added: “But we’ve got to discuss this issue, we’ve got to discuss the issue of homophobia and we’ve got to discuss why people, even as close to him as me weren’t told about the mental health problems.”

Speaking on the same show, Johnson’s father said: “It is a travesty for anyone to blame us or his past troubles for his death. There is only one place to look for the real blame: the Conservative Party.”

The inquest into Mr Johnson’s death opens on 2 March. Both Mr Clarke and Mr Walker deny any wrongdoing in the affair.

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