Mr Clark was approached by the Times to voice his views on the scandal that has led to calls for Boris Johnson to resign, not just from opposition MPs, but also from his own party.
Local Conservatives have also voiced their ‘disgust’ at the allegations some of whom fear the scandal will result in a ‘bloodbath’ at the local elections scheduled for May.
But the Tunbridge Wells MP said that while he understood ‘the anger that people feel about the revelations about what happened in Downing Street in 2020’ he wanted to wait until ‘all the information is known’ before commenting.
The former cabinet minister said: “My normal practice, based on long experience, is not to give a reaction to daily disclosures but to wait until all of the information is known, including the report of the official investigation by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, and consider it in its totality, which I will do in this case.”
The scandal that has involved numerous gatherings being held in Downing Street during lockdown in 2020, escalated last week after the PM was forced to apologise to the House of Commons after it emerged that he attended a ‘bring your own booze’ gathering in the garden of No 10.
The Prime Minister insisted he believed it had been a ‘work event’ and he had not been sent the email encouraging staff to bring a bottle to ‘make the most of the lovely weather’.
An inquiry by senior official Sue Gray to establish what gatherings took place and who attended is expected to report back in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, residents have written to Mr Clark and this newspaper [see page 15], to voice their ‘sheer disgust’ at the allegations.
And a former Leader of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and a president of the local Conservative Association has said he will never vote for the party again if Boris Johnson remains in charge.
David Jukes who was Council leader between 2012 and 2019, and was Mayor of the Borough, told the Times this week that he is so ‘disgusted’ over allegations over lockdown parties at Number 10 he has now quit the party.
He said: “I’ve been a member of the Conservative party, man and boy, for more than 50 years, but I’m so disgusted with Boris Johnson that I’ll never vote for them again while he remains PM.
“For the first time in my life I will not vote for anybody at the next election.”
And he warned unless the Conservative party do not remove Mr Johnson before May, the local Conservatives had no chance of holding on to the Council.
“If he is still there by May, regardless of what they do locally, it will be a bloodbath,” Mr Jukes said.
