A Tory mayoral candidate hopeful has been accused of groping a woman a decade ago.
Daniel Korski, a former No 10 adviser or “spad” who made the shortlist to be the Conservative Party’s candidate for next year’s London mayoral race, denied groping TV producer and writer Daisy Goodwin at a meeting in Downing Street “in the strongest possible terms”.
Ms Goodwin, who used an article in the Times to name Mr Korski, wrote: “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. I was older, taller and very possibly wiser than the spad, and having worked for the BBC in the Eighties I knew how to deal with gropers.
“What I felt was surprise and some humiliation. I was a successful award-winning TV producer with 40 or so people working for me; this was not behaviour that I would have tolerated in my office.
“By the time I got back to work I had framed it as an anecdote about the spad who groped me in No 10. His behaviour was so bizarre that I couldn’t help seeing the humour in it. It was as if I had walked into Carry On Downing Street.”
A spokesperson for Mr Korski said: “In the strongest possible terms, Dan categorically denies any allegation of inappropriate behaviour whatsoever.”
This is not the first time Ms Goodwin has spoken about the incident, but she said that she now wanted to name Mr Korski given the fact he was in the running to become the Conservative mayoral candidate.
Ms Goodwin, the creator of TV series Victoria, added: “Naively I assumed that if everyone already knew then his egregious behaviour would not be tolerated any more.
“But now the spad who groped me, aka Daniel Korski, is running to be the Tory candidate for mayor of London. This I think is a reason to name him.”
Related: Rising corporate profits ‘largest contributor to inflation’ over past two years
