A female TV producer has spoken out about unwanted sexual advances after allegedly being groped by a Government official during a visit to 10 Downing Street.
Daisy Goodwin, creator of ITV series Victoria, claims that the man touched her breast during a meeting to discuss a proposed television programme.
The producer told the Radio Times that she dealt with the official putting his hand on her breast by humiliating him verbally, but she did not report the incident.
At the time of the incident, which allegedly took place during David Cameron's time in office between 2010 and 2016, Ms Goodwin said she was cross but not traumatised.
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She told the magazine she was now concerned that the man involved may have “tried it on” with someone less able to deal with the situation.
This is the latest in a series of allegations of unwanted sexual advances at Westminster, with international trade minister Mark Garnier and First Secretary of State Damian Green facing inquiries over inappropriate conduct claims.
The Government official, who Ms Goodwin suggests was a few years younger than her, allegedly showed her into an office at Number 10 which was dominated by a portrait of Margaret Thatcher.
At the start of the meeting, she said the official put his feet on her chair and said her sunglasses “made [her] look like a Bond Girl”, at which point she tried to divert the conversation back to the subject.
But she added: “At the end of the meeting we both stood up and the official, to my astonishment, put his hand on my breast.
“I looked at the hand and then in my best Lady Bracknell voice said: 'Are you actually touching my breast?' He dropped his hand and laughed nervously.”
Ms Goodwin said she left Downing Street in a state of “high dudgeon”, but that it did not occur to her to report it.
“I wasn't traumatised,” she added. “I was cross, but by the next day it had become an anecdote, The Day I Was Groped In Number 10.
“Now, in the light of all the really shocking stories that have come out about abusive behaviour by men in power from Hollywood to Westminster, I wonder if my Keep Calm and Carry On philosophy, inherited from my parents, was correct?
“The answer is, I am not sure.
“I think humiliating the official was probably the appropriate punishment, but suppose he tried it on with someone else less able to defend themselves?”
A spokesman for 10 Downing Street said: “Allegations such as this are taken very seriously.
“The Cabinet Office would look into any formal complaint, should one be made.”
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