He has been under fire in the past few days, but former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig says that he is not backing down.
Craig is facing allegations that he sexually harassed his former aide Rachel MacGregor. He and his wife Helen recently faced the press, with Craig admitting that he did have “inappropriate” relations with MacGregor, but denied that he had any sexual relations with her.
MacGregor claims that Craig is trying to frame her as a mistress, and that “there was never a sexual relationship, nor was there consent for his inappropriate actions.”
Craig, who said that his fate is in the hands of his many supporters, said in an interview with TV3’s Paul Henry Show that “nothing is over until it’s over.”
“I’m an ordinary person and I don’t always get everything right and I’ve never made the pretence that I do … The serious allegations here are false and so, for me, it’s about whether or not the supporters can forgive me and support me and if not that’s fine I accept that,” he added.
Six (out of ten) members of the board have already resigned. The most recent people who have left their posts are Regan Monahan, Roy Brown, Melissa Perkin and Nathaniel Heslop.
Christine Rankin, who has also resigned, said that Monday’s “excruciatingly embarrassing” press conference with Colin was the “final straw.”
Craig predicted that the only person that would most likely be left in the board is John Stringer, who said that he will not be resigning, and hopes members would fill the vacant positions.
“I think the Conservative Party minus Colin Craig is a much more attractive option to many people,” Stringer said.
There have been rumours that Craig will soon start a new political party. He addressed this by saying: “I am going to go to my supporters, there’s thousands of those, I’m going to go them and say, ‘Hey – do you support me to have a future, in some way, in politics?’ And if they say yes, then I’ll continue. If they say no, I’ll step down.”
