Mark Clarke (politician) facts for kids

Mark Clarke (born June 1977) is a British former Conservative Party parliamentary candidate who was director of the now-defunct Young Britons' Foundation, as well as a chairman of (also now-defunct) Conservative Future, and ex-director of the Road Trip electioneering organisation (disbanded in 2015) that bussed Conservative party activists to marginal seats during the 2015 general election campaign. Clarke was suspended from the party on 24 September 2015, following the ... of Conservative activist Elliott Johnson who had claimed that Clarke had bullied him.

A series of accusations subsequently appeared in national newspapers about Clarke's alleged misconduct. In November 2015 he was expelled and banned for life from representing or joining the Conservative Party. His alleged misconduct within the Conservative Party also led to national newspaper coverage about the extent to which senior figures in the party knew about complaints regarding his actions that subsequently led to the resignation of Grant Shapps as a government minister.

Early life and education

Clarke was born in June 1977, to Madeline Clarke and Denis Ogden. He is a great nephew of Dominica's first female prime minister, Dame Mary Eugenia Charles, and a grandson of Bertie Clarke, a Barbados-born member of the West Indies Cricket Team. Bertie Clarke came to Britain in 1939 to play cricket against England, but could not return home because of the outbreak of World War II; he then trained as a general practitioner, and had a daughter, Madeline, who would become Mark's mother. Mark's parents, Denis and Madeline, split up when Mark was young. He has described his father as being absent. His upbringing included time on the Ivybridge estate in Isleworth, Hounslow, West London.

Clarke was schooled at London's Dulwich College after achieving a government assisted places position. Afterwards, he studied Ancient and Modern History at Durham University, graduating in 1999.

Career

History Storytime Podcast

Facing issues with conventional employment as a result of public image and perception, Clarke, who himself studied ancient and modern history at Durham, started a children's history podcast behind the veil of his two daughters, Sophie and Ellie (with Clarke credited as "Daddy"). Mark Clarke is listed as the only director for the business. .....

Marketing consultancy

In the years from his graduation up to 2015, Clarke used his university training to engage in consulting positions related to marketing, a period that included work with Procter and Gamble, Mars, Accenture, and Unilever, and a period of 4 years residence in Switzerland. ..... He was the subject of a formal investigation by Unilever, but resigned before the investigation was concluded.

Early political career

Clarke has been an active Conservative Party campaigner since at least 1997 where he was seen in John Major's entourage as the former prime minister gave his speech to concede defeat to Tony Blair after a landslide defeat. He would later become the elected chairman of Conservative Future between 2006 and 2008 and he also came to prominence in the Young Britons’ Foundation as their director of outreach, an organisation headed by Donal Blaney at the time.

He would also assume the nickname "Tatler Tory" after being tipped as a future Cabinet Minister by Tatler magazine.

2010 General election

Sadiq Khan who defeated Clarke in the 2010 General Election

In 2010, Clarke stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Tooting, losing to the Labour Party candidate Sadiq Khan by 2,524 votes. During the campaign, an article in The Daily Mirror reported allegations, which Clarke denied, from Naaz Coker, chairman of St George's Healthcare NHS Trust, which said Clarke had "made 'inaccurate' and 'unfounded' claims to 'undermine' patients' confidence in their local health service." .....

Road Trip group

Clarke independently established the Road Trip campaigning group, which later received the endorsement of Conservative Campaign Headquarters and then Party Chairman Grant Shapps MP. It featured predominantly in the 2015 General Election and organised bus-loads of predominantly young party members to campaign in key marginal seats. Some local Conservatives regarded Road Trip assistance as "chaotic and useless".

When the accusations of serious misconduct during the Road Trip sessions began to appear in the national media in September 2015, Road Trip activity was suspended and later formally disbanded.

Outcomes of official investigations into wrongdoing

The allegations of common assault and blackmail that faced Clarke after the death of Elliott Johnson were considered by the police, but after investigation by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) it was decided there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. On 9 February 2016 a CPS spokesman said: "Having considered the evidence in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors we have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to charge Mark Clarke with offences of common assault or blackmail against Elliott Johnson and we have advised that no further action be taken".

In response to this, Johnson's family said they would appeal against the CPS decision and would consider launching a private harassment case especially as harassment had not been considered by the CPS. An appeal was lodged and with publicity from The Mirror and Daily Mail it was reported on 11 February that a new case for charges of harassment against Clarke was being considered.

Conservative Party ban

On 18 November 2015, it was reported that Clarke had been expelled from the Conservative Party and given a lifetime ban. The details of the order were to ensure Clarke could never represent, or stand as candidate in any election for, the Conservative Party in his lifetime.

Media coverage

Clarke's role in the foregoing matters has been examined by a number of radio and television programmes, including Newsnight.

Make Me A Tory

Clarke was a protagonist of Make Me a Tory, a 2007 Channel 4 documentary that also featured future Prime Minister David Cameron. In the documentary he was one of several prominent campaigners for the Conservative Party who sought to change the mind of the documentary maker, a lifelong Labour Party supporter.

Newsnight

Ben Howlett MP

On 18 November 2015, Clarke was the focus of an investigative feature on BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight. During the episode his contemporary, Conservative MP Ben Howlett, spoke about his personal efforts to counter institutional bullying in the youth wing of the Party.

A further Newsnight programme, aired on 8 December 2015, focused on allegations that the chairman of the Conservative Party, Lord Feldman, knew from as early as 2010 about allegations of institutional bullying in the Party's youth wing and that a twenty-page dossier was handed to him and Sayeeda Warsi by two activists naming several perpetrators, one of whom was Clarke.

BBC Radio 4

On 29 November 2015, a special thirteen-minute profile on Clarke was aired on BBC's flagship current affairs radio channel, Radio 4. The programme was an exploration of the reasons that resignations were occurring and being sought in some of the highest offices in the Conservative Party and government; it included discussion of the then-recent resignation of the International Development Minister. The documentary also contained assertions that Clarke's political activities may well have tipped the balance of the General Election in favour of the Conservatives, but also that he had quickly become "the disappearing man of British politics" owing to the reluctance of his former associates to defend him in the press, concluding that "the former Chairman of Conservative Future now has no Future in the Conservative Party."

Personal life

He was in a relationship with Conservative MP Justine Greening. In 2015, it was alleged that Clarke had had a long-term affair with India Brummitt, a former Conservative Future executive committee member.