Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Minister without portfolio, said:

“This is a deeply worrying situation which raises questions about how the Conservative Party conducts itself. Every day seems to bring new questions with suggestions that warnings of bullying were ignored by senior Conservatives. Grant Shapps’ resignation doesn’t end this - we need to know just how widely this goes. The current Party Chairman Lord Feldman has serious questions to answer about when exactly he was made aware of concerns about Mark Clarke and what action was taken as a result.

"The time has come for the Conservatives to put an end to the drip, drip of revelations. We need a fully independent inquiry - not one led by a Tory insider - to look at culture and practices in David Cameron’s Tory Party and a commitment to publish it. As the Prime Minister used to say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.”