Businessman David Meller quits education post and as Mayor's Fund trustee amid Presidents Club Charity dinner 'sexism' storm

The resignation comes amid explosive allegations of women being harassed and groped at the prestigious fundraising event.
Businessman David Meller is stepping down from the DfE's advisory board
Chloe Chaplain24 January 2018

A businessman behind the Presidents Club Charity Dinner has stepped down from his government post after an undercover report revealed shocking stories of sexism and harassment at the event.

David Meller quit as a non-executive director for the Department for Education following the furore over the men-only charity dinner which saw senior businessmen and politicians served by hostesses in short skirts and high heels.

An undercover sting published by the Financial Times exposed 'sexist' behaviour at the event, with claims the women were groped and harassed at an after-party and subject to lewd remarks.

Education Minister Anne Milton told the Commons on Wednesday that Mr Meller would be stepping down following the reports of "inappropriate and lewd behaviour" at the event.

He also resigned as a trustee of the Mayor's Fund for London.

A spokesman said: "David Meller has this afternoon resigned as a trustee of the Mayor's Fund for London.

"The Mayor's Fund for London is not and has never been a beneficiary of, nor has it had any involvement with, the Presidents Club or its events."

She said: "Allegations of this kind of behaviour are completely unacceptable."

Ms Milton said that Mr Meller was also stepping down as the chairman of the apprenticeship delivery board.

She said that as a board member he was expected to adhere to the code of conduct for board members of public bodies which required them to follow the seven principles of public life.

Undercover: reporter Madison Marriage posed as a hostess at the party

Ms Milton said: "It is quite extraordinary to me that in the 21st century allegations of this kind are still emerging. Women have the right to feel safe wherever they work."

"I'm quite old... I was born in 1955 and ... I've said at this dispatch box before, I thought things had changed and it is absolutely clear that it hasn't changed.

"I think there is an association between rich, wealthy people and this sort of behaviour. We have to send a clear message that this is unacceptable."

She said unless "we get it right in schools it will simply feed through to the rest", and said: "The Department for Education is clear that this is unacceptable, right from the word go.

"What the Department for Education needs to do and in fact all Government departments, all public bodies in fact, need to do is to make sure that this sort of behaviour isn't going on anywhere - it has to not be tolerated.

A flyer from the event in 2012

"It's not just about forcing people to do the right thing, it's actually about changing attitudes."

The annual event is attended by leading figures in business, politics and finance. Two undercover reporters from the Financial Times attended as hostesses and were told to wear "sexy" black heels, fitted dresses and matching black underwear.

Journalist Madison Marriage reported that the women were presented to the men at the start of the evening and then were told to accompany them at tables where they would be expected to chat to them and top up their glasses.

The event took place at Mayfair's Dorchester Hotel, which has a 'zero-tolerance' policy on harassment
Getty Images

She said some told her they were groped and propositioned by guests at the dinner at London's Dorchester Hotel. One said a man had exposed his penis to her and another was told to drink her wine, take off her underwear and dance on the table.

After the explosive reports, two children's hospitals announced they would be refunding donations raised by the event.

The event has raised £20 million for children's charities over more than 30 years, including Great Ormond Street Hospital (Gosh) and Evelina London Children's Hospital. Both will return all previous donations from the Presidents Club.

Ms Marriage told BBC Newsnight she was "groped several times" adding: "And I know that there are numerous other hostesses who said the same thing had happened to them.

"It's hands up skirts, hands on bums but also hands on hips, hands on stomachs, arms going round your waist unexpectedly. The worst I was told by one of the hostesses was a man taking his penis out during the course of the dinner.

"The other one was another man telling a hostess to down her glass of champagne, rip off her knickers and dance on the table. I can't believe that it still goes on in 2018, I think it's quite shocking."

A Downing Street source told the Press Association said Theresa May was "uncomfortable" at the reports, adding: "Clearly, this is an event to which she would not be invited, because she is a woman."

The Number 10 source said that Mr Meller "has been asked to step down" from his role in the Department for Education, adding: "The Prime Minister thinks that is the right decision."

Asked whether the Prime Minister was concerned about the attendance of children and families minister Nadhim Zahawi at the event, a senior Number 10 source said: "My understanding is that Mr Zahawi clearly did attend the event briefly.

"He has himself said he was uncomfortable at it, leaving at the point at which the hostesses were introduced by the host. I think he himself probably regrets the decision to go."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT