Man charged with assaulting ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith

A man has appeared in court charged with assaulting former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

Elliot Bovill, 31, of no fixed address, is accused of common assault against the senior MP in Manchester on or about October 4 last year.

No further details of the offence were read out at Manchester Magistrates’ Court and no plea was taken.

Last year Sir Iain told The Spectator magazine he was struck on the back of the head with a traffic cone as he headed to a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in the city.

A friend of the MP said he was walking with his wife Betsy at the time of the incident on October 4 and escaped without injury.

Bovill was told the case was being switched to Westminster Magistrates’ Court. He was granted unconditional bail to next appear on May 16.

Two other defendants have been charged in connection with the incident.

Radical Haslam, 28, of New Wakefield Street, Manchester, and Ruth Wood, 50, of Oak Tree Avenue, Cambridge, are accused of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of/provoke unlawful violence.

Wood appeared by videolink and was also bailed until May 16.

Haslam did not attend court.