UNITED KINGDOM
Independent
Alderman Alfred Roberts, revered father of Margaret Thatcher and inspirer of her Victorian values, sexually harassed young female assistants working in the grocer’s shop where she grew up, according to the distinguished political biographer Professor Bernard Crick.
Writing in the satirical magazine Punch, the political theorist, commentator and biographer of George Orwell recounts claims from contemporaries of the one-time Methodist preacher, pillar of society and Mayor of Grantham, Lincolnshire, that he “was a notorious toucher-up”.
The assaults supposedly took place about 60 years ago, behind the counter of the shop, next to the “splendid mahogany spice drawers with sparkling brass handles (and) large, black, lacquered tea canisters”, recalled in her autobiography by Baroness Thatcher, whose decisive endorsement of William Hague as Conservative leader last week has renewed her influence with the Tory right.
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