Newly defected Labour MP Natalie Elphicke lobbied the Justice Secretary urging him to interfere in her then-husband’s sex offence trial, it is claimed.
Ms Elphicke – who last week switched from the Tories to Labour – is accused of pleading with Sir Robert Buckland on Charlie Elphicke’s behalf. She allegedly told Sir Robert, who was Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, that it was unfair the case was the first to be heard at Southwark Crown Court after the Covid lockdown.
According to the Sunday Times, a witness present at the meeting believed Ms Elphicke was trying to have the case moved to a lower-profile court to spare her partner public scrutiny. Another thought it was an attempt to replace the senior judge
One person present viewed told The Sunday Times they believe she was trying to have the case moved to a lower-profile court to spare her partner public scrutiny. Another say it as an attempt to replace the senior judge.
Sir Robert rejected her plea, stating: “She was told in no uncertain terms that it would have been completely inappropriate to speak to the judge about the trial at all.” Ms Elphicke’s former husband and predecessor as MP for Dover was later convicted of sexually assaulting two women and jailed for two years.
She ended the marriage after his conviction but supported his unsuccessful appeal. In a newspaper interview she said Mr Elphicke had been “attractive, and attracted to women” and “an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations”. After switching to Labour on Wednesday, she issued a statement apologising for the comments.
It is also claimed that Ms Elphicke tried to get her then-husband better prison conditions, asking for more comfortable pillows. She denies the way her meeting with Sir Robert was characterised.
A spokesman for Ms Elphicke told the newspaper: “This is nonsense. It’s certainly true that Mr Elphicke continued to be supported after his imprisonment by a large number of Conservative MPs who had known him for a long time, including some who visited him and independently lobbied on his behalf, which was nothing to do with Natalie.”
A Labour Party spokesman said: “Natalie Elphicke totally rejects that characterisation of the meeting. If Robert Buckland had any genuine concerns about the meeting, then he should have raised them at the time, rather than making claims to the newspapers now Natalie has chosen to join the Labour Party.”
On Thursday Ms Elphicke’s issued an apology for her defence of her former husband, saying she condemned “his behaviour towards other women and towards me”, adding it was “right that he was prosecuted” and she was “sorry for the comments that I made about his victims”. The Mirror has contacted Ms Elphicke for comment.