The Free Speech Union (FSU) is reeling from internal grievances involving allegations of racism, workplace discrimination and sexually inappropriate remarks by senior members of staff, the Guardian can reveal.

A key figure in the campaign group, the chief operating officer, Sigrun Olafsdottir, departed late last week after employees alleged that she told a junior member of staff she would “never hire a black person” as a part of a one-on-one meeting late last year.

The organisation’s legislative affairs director, Sam Armstrong – who is also head of communications for the Reform MP Robert Jenrick – has meanwhile been accused of making staff members uncomfortable by discussing the American actor Sydney Sweeney’s “assets” in a meeting with more than a dozen staff.

The claims cap a difficult period for the FSU, which was founded by the Conservative life peer Toby Young , and which critics see as a partisan rallying point for anti-woke grievance.

And they may complicate how the organisation seeks to publicly…