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A top TV writer and producer last night said she was groped in Downing Street by a former aide to David Cameron who is now running to be Mayor of London.
Daisy Goodwin, creator of the hit ITV drama Victoria, said Tory candidate Daniel Korski groped her breast during a visit to No 10 a decade ago.
She has previously spoken about the alleged assault but it is the first time she has named Mr Korski – who strongly denies the allegation.
He is one of three Tories battling it out to become the party’s candidate in the London mayoral election in May 2024 to replace Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan.
Mr Korski reportedly left a Tory hustings event mid-debate last night after being alerted by an aide to the publication of Ms Goodwin’s claims.
Daisy Goodwin, creator of the hit ITV drama Victoria, said Tory candidate Daniel Korski (pictured) groped her breast during a visit to No 10 a decade ago
In an article for the Daily Mail today, Ms Goodwin, 61, described how she arrived at Downing Street for talks with Mr Korski about an idea for a TV show.
They had met at a social event two weeks earlier and he believed a show could be written about the trade department’s attempts to work with small and medium-sized businesses in exporting their goods around the world.
Ms Goodwin wrote: ‘Korski, who was quite a few years younger than me, showed me into a room dominated by a portrait of Mrs Thatcher, then, to my surprise he said that my sunglasses made me look like a Bond Girl and put his feet on my chair when we sat down at the table.
‘I attempted to turn the conversation to turning exports into unmissable TV. At the end of the meeting we both stood up and Korski, to my astonishment, put his hand on my breast. I looked at the hand and then in my most affronted voice said, “Are you actually touching my breast?”
‘He dropped his hand and laughed nervously. I swept out in what can only be called high dudgeon.’
Ms Goodwin did not make a formal complaint at the time. She said she had learned to laugh off ‘unwanted advances from male co-workers’ when she was a young woman working in the media in the 1980s.
She added: ‘It was much easier to evade the hand on the leg or the bum, and pretend that it hadn’t happened, than to make a fuss.
‘I didn’t want to be the girl who couldn’t take a joke.
‘I hasten to add that nothing really terrible happened to me prior to Korski’s bizarre assault, but in the TV industry of the 80s and 90s, there was a lot of behaviour that would nowadays be called “inappropriate”.’
Ms Goodwin has previously spoken about the alleged assault but it is the first time she has named Mr Korski – who strongly denies the allegation.
She first revealed the alleged incident in an article for the Radio Times in 2017 – in the wake of the #MeToo movement – although she did not identify Mr Korski.
Explaining her decision to name him now after learning he was running to be the capital’s mayor, she wrote: ‘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 judgment 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.’
Ms Goodwin added: ‘In the end I think we can’t be afraid of doing the right thing. We shouldn’t have to warn younger women to be careful not to be alone with such-and-such a man, or circulate secret WhatsApp spreadsheets.
‘Women and men of every age should be treated with respect in the workplace, and the people who don’t understand what that means should not be running for office.’
In 2017, Mr Korski denied it was himself at the centre of claims after rumours swirled about his identity.
He said at the time: ‘I am shocked to find this story is in any way connected to me. I met with Ms Goodwin in No 10 twice I think, and she may have met others too.
‘But I categorically deny any allegation of inappropriate behaviour. Any such allegation would not only be totally false but also totally bizarre.’
Jamie Klingler, co-founder of women’s safety charity Reclaim These Streets, said last night: ‘It is crucial that allegations against men in power are taken seriously and addressed as they are almost always part of a pattern of abuse of power – a pattern that abusers depend on to protect them and stop victims from stopping the behaviour.’
Mr Korski’s spokesman said yesterday: ‘In the strongest possible terms, Dan categorically denies any allegation of inappropriate behaviour whatsoever.’
The two other Tory candidates in the race are Mozammel Hossain KC and Susan Hall.
Ms Goodwin began her career at the BBC making arts documentaries before joining production company Talkback, where she made Grand Designs.
She then started Silver River Productions in 2005 before selling it to Sony in 2012 to focus on writing.
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