Former BC premier accused of groping woman in London, British newspaper reports

Police in London are investigating an allegation of sexual assault made against former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell, a British newspaper has reported.

The Daily Telegraph said it received a complaint from a woman who was an employee at the Canadian High Commission when Campbell was high commissioner.

The newspaper says in a story published online on Friday that the complainant alleges she was groped in 2013 and filed a complaint with police in January.

Campbell could not be reached for comment but the Daily Telegraph reported that a spokesman for him said the alleged incident was investigated and dismissed.

“This complaint was transparently disclosed and became the subject of a full due diligence investigation at the time by the government of Canada and was found to be without merit,” the newspaper quotes the unnamed spokesman as saying.

The newspaper reported that police in London issued a statement confirming it is investigating an allegation of sexual assault that occurred in 2013 after it was contacted by a 54-year-old woman on Jan. 3.

The woman alleges she was sexually assaulted at an address in Grosvenor Square and that no arrests have been made as it continues its investigation.

The Daily Telegraph said the woman alleges a “hand went up my backside” as she climbed the main staircase at Canada House on her way to a meeting.

Global Affairs Canada could not be reached for comment.

Campbell was premier of British Columbia from 2001 until 2011. He was appointed high commissioner in 2011 and left the diplomatic post in 2016.

With files from the Canadian Press