A YOUNG Conservative activist who dressed up as Madeleine McCann apologised to the missing child's parents last night after his actions triggered widespread condemnation and caused humiliation for the party.
Kate and Gerry McCann had demanded a public apology from Matthew Lewis – who has appeared alongside the Tory leader, David Cameron – after he donned a blonde wig and pink pyjamas and carried a teddy bear and a vial of fake blood at a party, in an ap
parent attempt to mimic the child.
His actions were condemned as a disgrace by a spokesman for the McCanns, and the Conservative Party expelled Mr Lewis last night.
He issued an apology, in which he said he could "not express how sorry I am for the incredible hurt I have caused". The statement added: "Whilst my actions were not meant to be malicious, I fully understand the pain they have brought."
Two other Conservative members are facing expulsion from the party for their comments, left on the Facebook website, where the university student boasted about his costume.
Richard Lowe, another young Tory, had asked: "Is this a cunning (Baldrick style) plan to obtain the reward money?"
Mr Lewis revealed that another friend had dressed up as Baby P, the toddler killed by his mother, her boyfriend and another man after social services failed to spot signs of abuse.
A Staffordshire Conservative Future activist, Flick Cox, commented on Facebook that she "can't wait to see the photos".
She said she would have to drop her friendship with Mr Lewis when she became an MP, adding that he appeared to have done a "Prince Harry".
The prince was forced to apologise after he wore an SS guard's costume at a party.
Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCann family, said Mr Lewis had been "offensive almost beyond belief" in making fun of their agony.
He added: "I know Gerry and Kate will be grateful that the Tory Party has taken swift and appropriate action by ejecting him from the party.
"His actions are not only disgraceful in themselves, they will also cause great hurt to Kate and Gerry. I feel it is appropriate that he now apologises both privately and publicly to them."
Caroline Spelman, the Conservative Party chairman, branded Mr Lewis's behaviour "totally unacceptable", adding:
"There is no place for this sort of person in the party."
Mr Lewis quit as the chairman of Staffordshire Conservative Forward on Boxing Day after becoming unhappy with reforms.
He had suggested ways to make the youth wing of the party more cohesive by the "use of mediums such as Facebook to ensure CF members moving to a new area can quickly get in touch with, and feel at home within, a new group".
He also advocated "ending the segregation of young Conservatives in Scotland by bringing CF Scotland back into the national structure in some way".
Two members of Scottish Conservative Future were kicked out of the party last year for dressing up as a master and slave. And a London Tory councillor was condemned after painting himself black to act as Nelson Mandela.
Party researcher Emma Claire Pentreath faced a backlash after pictures appeared on Facebook of her also painted black.
The full article contains 542 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
