It's up to Tory candidate Daniel Korski to decide if he will quit after grope claims, says rival | The Sun
DANIEL Korski must decide for himself if he wants to quit the Tory Mayoral race, his rival says this morning.
The frontrunner to become the candidate to go up against Sadiq Khan was yesterday accused of groping a telly writer when he was working in No10.
The creator of ITV hit drama Victoria, said Mr Korski, 46, touched her breast back in 2013.
During a visit to No10, Ms Goodwin, 61, was allegedly assaulted in the famous Margaret Thatcher study – something Mr Korski last night denied.
Writing in the The Times, Ms Goodwin said: "When we both stood up at the end of the meeting and went to the door, the spad stepped towards me and suddenly put his hand on my breast.
"Astonished, I said loudly, 'Are you really touching my breast?' The spad sprang away from me and I left.
"Although I suppose legally his action could be called sexual assault, I have to say that I did not feel frightened."
Mr Korski, who was PM David Cameron's special adviser at the time, said he "categorically denied" groping Ms Goodwin a decade ago.
Today his rival for the top job, Susan Hall, refused to get drawn into the explosive row.
She told The Sun: "It's for him to decide what he's going to do.
"It's not my decision, what he decides to do, is up to him."
She insisted she would be turning up to tonight's hustings regardless of whether he shows up or not.
Asked what she would do in his shoes, she replied: "I wouldn't be in that same situation – I have no idea, I just have to keep focused, I really want to be Mayor of London, I have to focus on that."
CCHQ are facing questions about the interview process and how he was allowed to get through the selection.
Ms Hall, an Assembly Member who is going up against Korski and other rival, Moz Hussein, added: "I don't know what he's said, what he's done, it's for his team to advise team which way he goes forward.
"It would be unfair of me to comment, I'm in this process with him. I don't want to disadvantage my opponents, I want to beat them fair and square."
A spokesperson for the Tory candidate running for Mayor of London said: "In the strongest possible terms, Dan categorically denies any allegation of inappropriate behaviour whatsoever."
Ms Goodwin previously spoke out about her alleged suffering – but didn't name Mr Korski until yesterday.
She explained she had now decided to name him after learning he was running to be the capital's mayor.
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Ms Goodwin added: "Part of Korski's campaign is that he wants to make London safer for women. This strikes me as the ultimate irony.
"While I am not suggesting he is in the same league as the man who raped and murdered Sarah Everard, it makes me queasy to think that the man who clearly got a thrill out of groping me under a portrait of Mrs Thatcher, should be someone who can be relied on to make judgement calls about how to protect the opposite sex.
"I am not saying that every politician has to be a saint, but I wouldn't put an arsonist in charge of the Fire Brigade.
"What concerns me — and is another reason I am writing this — is that I suspect other people in positions of power and influence know Korski is capable of this kind of behaviour and yet have still decided to back him."
It's reported Mr Korski was forced to leave a Tory hustings mid-debate after the claims broke on Monday night.
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Ms Goodwin began her career at the BBC making arts documentaries.
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