A leading young Conservative has been suspended from the party and banned from next month's conference following accusations that he was involved in bullying an activist who is believed to have killed himself last week.
Sources say the party is investigating the allegations against Mark Clarke, who ran the Conservatives' RoadTrip 2015 battlebus campaign at the last election and ran unsuccessfully for Tooting at the 2010 general election.
Police have launched an investigation into the death of Elliot Johnson, 21, who died of an apparent suicide last week.
An inquest into his death opened on Tuesday and was told that British Transport police are investigating claims of bullying by party members. Johnson is understood to have left a note that made the allegations.
Sources told BuzzFeed News that Clarke was accused of bullying Johnson, who had previously been an activist for Conservative Way Forward. They said Johnson complained to CCHQ, the party's head office, about Clarke and the two other individuals. One source said Clarke then put pressure on Johnson to withdraw the complaint.
In a statement, Clarke said: "I strongly refute any suggestion of bullying or harassment. I am not making any further comment about this matter. The family have asked for privacy and I respect both their wishes and the coroner's process."
A Conservative spokesperson confirmed the party was also investigating the matter. "The party's own, separate disciplinary inquiry is in relation to complaints received from Mr Johnson and others against a member of the party," the spokesperson said.
The Times reported that the party investigation was launched in August in response to accusations but that since Johnson's death it had been "escalated" and is being overseen directly by party chair Lord Feldman.
A young Conservative activist told BuzzFeed News that Clarke and two other party members had been putting pressure on activists to back a candidate to be the chair for the Conservatives' national convention, which organises the party's conference. "It's a culmination of the worst elements of the party," the source said.
"A lot of [party activists] are shocked," another party activist told BuzzFeed News. "There's lots of texts going around."