Labour suspends Kelvin Hopkins following sexual misconduct allegations

Labour MP accused of sexual misconduct against a young woman.
Kelvin Hopkins is accused of rubbing himself up against Ava Etemadzadeh, 27, at a political event and sending her inappropriate text messages.
Etemadzadeh claims she informed the Labour leadership but nothing was done.
Labour suspend Hopkins following the latest allegations.

LONDON — Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins has been suspended from the party last night following allegations of sexual misconduct.

Hopkins is accused of sending inappropriate text messages to a young woman and rubbing himself up against her at a political event in 2013, according to The Daily Telegraph.

"He hugged me to say goodbye, held me too tight and rubbed his crotch on me, which I found revolting," Ava Etemadzadeh, 27, told the paper.

They met at another event in parliament two years later at which she claims Hopkins asked her a series of personal questions. He then allegedly commented that if his office was not empty, he would have liked to have taken her there.

The paper reports that he followed up the encounter with a series of attempted calls and a text message which referred to her as "lovely young woman – attractive, intelligent, charming and sweet natured. A nice young man would be lucky to have you as a girlfriend and lover. I am sure one such is soon to be found. Were I to be young … but I am not. Always your friend, and if you ever need a friend you have my number … xxx”

Etemadzadeh says she first informed the party's then chief whip Rosie Winterton last year about Hopkins' behaviour but that no action was taken.

Business Insider understands that the leaders' office was aware of the text message from Hopkins in 2015 and that he was reprimanded by the whips office, but that the matter was then considered closed.

Hopkins was subsequently promoted to Shadow Culture Secretary by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"The leader’s office was informed and they didn’t act on it, which is absolutely disgraceful. He was then promoted to the shadow cabinet," Etemadzadeh said.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "On the basis of allegations received by the Labour Party today, Kelvin Hopkins has been suspended from party membership, and therefore the Labour whip, while an investigation takes place.

"The Labour Party takes all such complaints extremely seriously and has robust procedures in place to deal with them."

Labour suspends Kelvin Hopkins following sexual misconduct allegations

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