It later emerged that Pincher had resigned as Comptroller of the Household (one of the Government whips in the House of Commons) in 2017, after being accused of sexual misconduct by both Tom Blenkinsop (a former Labour MP) and Alex Story (a former Olympic rower and Conservative Party parliamentary candidate).
The government initially denied that Boris Johnson had had any knowledge of any specific complaints about Pincher of a similar nature in February 2022, when he appointed Pincher as Deputy Chief Whip. Johnson later had to admit that this was not the case.
The scandal brought about the demise of Johnson's government. Ministers and other government staff resigned on the 5th, 6th and 7th of July 2022, and Johnson announced on the 7th of July that he would resign as party leader.
© Haydn Thompson 2023