Wife of disgraced ex-MP Charlie Elphicke reveals emotional toll husband’s sex attack conviction has taken on their kids
THE wife of disgraced ex-MP Charlie Elphicke has laid bare the emotional toll her husband’s trial and conviction for sexual assaults has taken on their two children.
“Naughty Tory” Elphicke, 49, could face jail when he is sentenced next month.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, a weeping Natalie, 49, said: “It has been an enormous strain on the whole family — effectively a three-year sentence already. The impact has been huge.”
Natalie has been particularly worried about the effect on their 13-year-old son.
She said: “He was ten when Charlie was suspended from the party in 2017. Invitations to parties, playdates, suddenly dried up.
“Charlie was even stopped from helping out at Scouts because of the nature of the allegations.
“My daughter was studying for her A-levels when this first broke and, not surprisingly, they didn’t go as well as they could have.
“Fortunately, she is now 20 and has her own life studying in another part of the country.”
Despite standing by her husband during the trial, Natalie moved swiftly to end their 25-year marriage when Elphicke was found guilty last week.
Natalie revealed in The Sun on Sunday how she video-called her son from a private court room to break the news.
She added: “Fortunately, local friends have been very supportive.”
She filed for divorce the morning after the verdict and has removed her wedding ring.
Natalie, who succeeded Elphicke as MP for Dover last year, admitted she faces an uphill struggle to rebuild her life.
She said: “I always thought our marriage was strong and I didn’t want to lose it — 25 years is a long time to be with someone.
“I am now realising it takes an awful lot to unpick that.
“The verdict came as a profound shock.
“I’m exhausted from the entire process.
“It was something I had to endure but it has come to an end now. I must look to the future.”
Natalie said there were no plans for her husband to return to the family home atop Dover’s White Cliffs.
She said: “He will only be returning to collect belongings.
“As to what he plans to do now, that is a matter for Charlie.”
She added: “The case has cost us an absolute fortune.”
Elphicke was last week found guilty of three sexual assaults against two women.
A three-week trial heard how he forced himself on his victims in “almost identical attacks” by kissing them open-mouthed and groping their breasts.
'I'm a naughty Tory'
The first attack occurred in 2007 in the family’s London home, before Elphicke was an MP.
Natalie was away on her first business trip since giving birth to their son and Elphicke had invited a woman over to share a bottle of wine.
She said he began quizzing her about her sex life with her boyfriend before trying kiss her.
When she rejected his advances, he chased her singing, “I’m a naughty Tory” in behaviour likened to a Benny Hill sketch.
Elphicke was also convicted of preying on a parliamentary worker more than 20 years his junior in 2016.
She told how she felt groomed by him. He took her for coffee and lunches and offered to take her shopping.
The court heard how he cornered her in an office in Westminster before trying to kiss her and grope her.
When she rejected him, he told her: “Oh, I’m naughty sometimes, aren’t I? I can be so badly behaved but I can’t help it.”
She also told police of another time when Elphicke slid his hand up her skirt.
The woman reported the incident to the Tory deputy chief whip Anne Milton before contacting police the following year.
Elphicke also confessed to an affair with a third woman, who was not a complainant.
Natalie said: “It was incredibly hard to hear of the affair and all the allegations.”
But she insists she has no regrets at standing by her husband when he was suspended by his party and during the trial.
Natalie, a qualified lawyer, said: “I believe in the rule of law and innocent until proven guilty.
“I said would support him when he was suspended in 2017 and felt I couldn’t walk away at the trial.
“To be accused of this type of thing; it goes to the very heart of a person.
“And to not be able to answer [the allegations] for a long time or deal with it was just an incredible strain. We got through it together.”
Asked if she fears more women could come forward, she said: “I can only deal with what is in front of me.”
During our interview, Natalie stressed that any women who had a complaint should feel able to speak up, but said they should do so immediately — either to their work HR team or police.
She added: “If people don’t do it the right way then evidence gets lost, CCTV doesn’t get secured. It puts it on the wrong footing from beginning to end.”
Natalie took over as MP for Dover at December’s election when her husband was barred from standing.
She added: “I had been involved in the Conservative Party for a very long time.
I have had an enormous amount of support over the last three years. Without that it would have been unendurable.
Natalie Elphicke
“When it became clear that Charlie couldn’t stand again, the local association made it clear that they wanted me to come forward. It was a huge honour and I was very proud to do it.”
And although there was speculation Natalie was purely “keeping the seat warm” for her husband, she is determined to stay on.
She added: “I stepped forward not because of Charlie, but because it is my community and I wanted to serve it. I will continue to do so.
“This is a very traditional community. But I have had an enormous amount of support over the last three years.
“Without that it would have been unendurable.”
Natalie must now juggle her responsibilities as a single parent with her job as an MP.
But she said: “Boris Johnson is supportive of the new intake of female MPs.
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“I will manage it — plenty of women do. I am devastated I have lost my marriage. I loved my husband completely.
“Now I have to pick myself up and move to the next stage in my life. It is just what women do.”
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