Police to investigate sex claims engulfing British coalition party

British police on Monday said they would probe claims of sexual impropriety by a former chief executive of Britain’s Liberal Democrats that threaten to engulf party leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.

Metropolitan Police announced in a statement on their website that they were investigating claims made by four women against Chris Rennard to see “whether or not criminal activity has taken place”.

The message revealed that the force had been “approached by officials in the Liberal Democrat Party following recent media reporting”.

The Lib Dems’ popularity has plunged since Clegg signed an agreement with the Conservatives making them the coalition government’s junior partners following the 2010 election.

Clegg on Sunday admitted he was aware in 2008 of “indirect and non-specific concerns” about Rennard but denies newspaper reports that he ignored multiple claims of sexually inappropriate behaviour against the peer.

Rennard, who now sits in parliament’s upper House of Lords, “categorically denied that he had behaved inappropriately and he continues to do so”, Clegg said on Sunday.