"I'd rather be with naughty girls, than run the country": Disgraced minister quits after sending 2,000 lewd messages to women
Andrew Griffiths, a Conservative Party MP, resigned from government after it emerged he sent more than 2,000 lewd text messages to two barmaids asking them for sexual favors. Griffiths, who just became a father, gave £700 or $927 to Imogen Treharne and a friend of hers. It was also revealed that he offered to rent out an apartment so that the three of them could hook up while he demanded that the two of them send him something "f****** filthy." The 47-year-old, a self-described "devil," spoke to the women about degrading sex acts and demanded explicit pictures and videos.
He also said that he would rather be "licking naughty girls" instead of "running the country." It was reported that Treharne sent a video of her spanking another woman and Griffiths responded by saying it was "nowhere near hard enough." He also asked Treharne if she could take a beating.
Mirror Online reported that on July 13, Griffiths said he was "deeply ashamed" and he convinced the public that he is currently seeking help for his problem. He even apologized to Prime Minister Theresa May for his rude behavior after he sent two constituents messages about violent sado-masochism. Griffiths, best known for creating the Women to Win campaign to boost female MPs in office, is the former adviser to the Prime Minister and has sent dozens of messages daily for three weeks.
The MP from Burton and Uttoxeter referred to himself as "daddy" in most of the messages that he sent the two said, women. He wrote: "I’m the daddy with power. I’m the daddy with the naughtiest streak." He even sent the women £200 or $265 to buy themselves "treats" and wrote: "A horny daddy is a generous daddy." Griffiths then boasted to the women that he drank champagne with Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace, told them he was friends with Katherine Jenkins, and even told the women that Katie Price "looked like a cat" after he met the model at a fundraiser. The former MP kept sending the two of them messages after he contacted them online.
Griffiths remuneration costs taxpayers about £100,000 every year. He resigned after a meeting with Chief Whip Julian Smith, who said that the message he sent to the two women were a breach of the Ministerial Code. A Whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are the party's "enforcers"; they invite their fellow legislators to attend voting sessions and to vote according to the official party policy.
A source close to the Prime Minister's office said that May agreed that Griffiths had "fallen short of the expected standards of Ministerial behavior" by sending the lewd messages. A colleague of his in the government said: "I understand it was pretty clear from the word go that Andrew had to resign as a Minister." It had been revealed that Griffiths quit from the post of Business Minister on July 13, after being elected for the role only in January.
In his statement after resignation, Griffiths said: "I am deeply ashamed at my behavior which has caused untold distress to my wife and family, to whom I owe everything, and a deep embarrassment to the Prime Minister and the Government I am so proud to serve. I tendered my resignation as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Small Business on Friday night. Following discussions today with the Chief Whip I have referred myself to the Conservative Party’s Code of Conduct procedures."
"I entirely accept that pending this investigation it is right the whip is withdrawn. I wish to apologize to my constituency association and to the people of Burton I am honored to represent. I do not seek to excuse my behavior and will be seeking professional help to ensure it never happens again. In time I hope to earn the forgiveness of all those who put their trust in me and that I have let down so terribly. The Prime Minister and the Government she leads will continue to have my full support."
This resignation is the third high profile one that has hit PM May's office in less than a week. Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson quit last week after they saw the Prime Minister's Chequers Brexit dea. The resignations have come just months after the Commons was rocked by the "Pestminster" scandal that led to the resignations of Defence Secretary Michael Fallon - for accusations of "lunging" at a reporter - and First Secretary of State Damian Green - for making "inaccurate and misleading" statements about the porn that was found on his Commons computer.
Griffiths, who was a former chief of staff for May, gained a lot of sympathy from the public after he came forward and revealed that he and his wife have been through "horrific abuse" courtesy the Left-wing trolls who targeted the family after Griffiths and Jeremy Corbyn had a fight in the Commons. The couple was subjected to a crazy hate campaign when his wife who is in her late 40s, Kate, got pregnant with their first child.
She gave birth to a baby girl in April. Griffiths married Kate four years ago. The new mother used to work for the Burton Albion football club. When his daughter was born, Griffiths said: "We never thought we’d be lucky enough to have children, so it’s all the more special. She is a little miracle, and we are both totally over the moon." He worked as May's chief of staff when the Tories were in Opposition. Griffiths then entered the Commons in 2010 as the Burton MP and was promoted to Government Whip in July 2016.