Labour MP apologises for hugging parliamentary staffer after bullying probe
A Labour MP has apologised for hugging a parliamentary staffer following the conclusion of an investigation into bullying.
Tony Vaughan, the MP for Folkstone and Hythe, “snatched” a phone from a female employee, repeatedly cursed, banged his keyboard and stormed out of his office, the probe found.
He also was found to have hugged the staffer without asking for her consent.
The employee first reported Mr Vaughan to Parliament’s Independent Complaints & Grievance Scheme (ICGS) in 2025.
In her complaint, the staffer detailed a number of incidents she witnessed while working for the Labour MP's constituency office between autumn 2024 and the following spring.
The report describes one particular episode where she had been working in his parliamentary office and witnessed Mr Vaughan "began swearing and banging his keyboard, saying words to the effect, ‘f******, f****** appointments".
She also described hearing the MP say "I’m late for this" before storming out of the office.
In another incident, the staffer detailed an incident where he had vented frustration towards her after accusing her of failing to put a video call with a fellow Kent MP in his diary.
The woman reported Mr Vaughan telling her "it’s not in the f****** diary is it", while using an accusatory tone.
Her report adds: “After the complainant managed to get a Zoom link for the meeting for the respondent (Vaughan), the respondent snatched the complainant’s personal phone out of her hand and said words to the effect, ‘I’ll do the call on your phone’.”
In February 2025, the report also details how after his office had been redecorated, the MP “held out his arms and gestured to the complainant that he wanted to give her a hug” after walking into the room.
It says: “Despite the complainant looking down at the respondent’s arms in confusion and grimacing, the respondent stepped towards her, saying, ‘I’d like to hug you’ and put his arms around her.
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The panel concluded the Labour MP's behaviour “were breaches of ‘basic boundaries and courtesy’ rather than failures in management, and an abuse of his power”.
Mr Vaughan delivered a full apology to the woman in the House of Commons yesterday.
He said: “At a small gathering to thank my former colleague for her work establishing the constituency office, I initiated a hug. I assumed that she was content to be hugged, but I did not ask, and the hug was unwelcome to her.
“Later that month, while out of the office intending to join an online meeting that was not in my diary, I took my former colleague’s phone from her hand without her consent to join that meeting.
“She immediately challenged me and took the phone back. It was not mine to take.
“The next day, two calls with my former colleague and me were ended abruptly while I was trying to find the venue for a constituency appointment. One of them was deliberately [ended] by me after entering a live church service.
“Regrettably, I never explained why these calls had ended as I ought to have done.
“As a result of these behaviours, my former colleague was upset and humiliated. My behaviour had a real and continuing impact on her and her family, and I am truly sorry for this.”
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