A claim that a Conservative frontbencher watched pornography on his phone in the House of Commons is being investigated by the party.
The office of chief whip Chris Heaton Harris said “action will be taken” against the claim – which comes as misogny in politics is under heightened scrutiny.
A female minister who said she was sat next to the frontbencher at the time told colleagues about the incident at a meeting of Tory MPs in Westminster last night, according to the Mirror.
The Mirror also cited three sources as saying that around a dozen female Tory MPs at last night’s meeting shared accounts of sexism and harassment by colleagues.
Asked about the claims on the BBC’s Politics Live, Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said: “That’s unacceptable in any workplace really … if somebody has done that then quite rightly I would expect there to be some consequences for that.”
Saying he would “call it out” if he saw it happening, he added: “I think that’s incredibly unprofessional. I would hope that when they’re in the chamber they’re concentrating on what they’re doing and not their mobile phones.”
The revelation comes after misogny was thrust to the forefront of politics by a report in The Mail on Sunday which quoted an anonymous Tory MP accusing Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner of crossing and uncrossed her legs at PMQs to distract Boris Johnson.
Ms Rayner on Wednesday hit out at the “sexist slurs” aimed at her as the editor of The Mail On Sunday refused a meeting with the Commons Speaker to discuss the article.