Earlier in the day, UK broadcaster Sky News reported that a 52-year old Pincher in a drunken state "groped two men in front of others" at the Carlton Club in the St James's area of central London on Thursday evening. Pincher later apologized for his behavior and announced that he was resigning as the Conservative party's whip. Later, he was also suspended as Conservative MP.
According to the two lawmakers and a government official, several Conservative party's members of parliament called on Johnson in February not to appoint Pincher to a key parliamentary position "responsible for discipline and welfare of the party." The officials warned Johnson of sexual harassment allegations against Pincher.
"As soon as his name was in the running, people went into No. 10, including MPs, with new allegations about what he’d done," one of the officials said, as quoted by Politico.
Nevertheless, despite all the misgivings, Pincher was appointed Deputy Chief of the Conservative party.
Pincher served as Minister of State for Europe and the Americas from July 2019 to February 2020. His first foreign visit was a trip to Kiev, where he expressed support for the Ukrainian leadership's actions.