Johnson knew of MP's sexual misconduct when giving him party position

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Politico reported on Friday that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been aware of all sexual harassment charges against Conservative MP Christopher Pincher at the time he was appointed as Deputy Chief of the Conservative Party.

UK broadcaster Sky News reported earlier in the day that the 52-year-old lawmaker "groped two men in front of others" in a drunken state at a club in central London on Thursday evening. The Tory MP later apologized for his behavior and said that he was resigning from his position.

Despite resigning, Pincher said he would continue his activities as an ordinary lawmaker.

Several Tory MPs had called on Johnson in February not to appoint Pincher to such a key position, wherein he would be "responsible for discipline and welfare of the party", according to two MPs and government officials.

Johnson was explicitly warned of Pincher's sexual harassment allegations.

"As soon as his name was in the running, people went into No. 10, including MPs, with new allegations about what he’d done," one of the officials said, as quoted by Politico. 

Pincher also served as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from July 2019 to February 2020.

This is all happening amid Tory losses in by-elections, and a decline in public support for the British Conservative Party, which had been rocked by successive scandals, most notably the PM's own Partygate scandals.