A TORY MP whose chief of staff is accused of raping a woman in his office told a court yesterday that he and his aide were “like father and son.”

Samuel Armstrong, 24, allegedly attacked the young woman when she fell asleep on a sofa in South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay’s office after drinking in the Houses of Parliament.

The woman, in her 20s, said she felt “like a hostage” and accused Mr Mackinlay’s aide of raping her twice.

She said that he repeatedly called her a bitch when she refused to go back to his flat and allegedly told her while raping her: “This is what you want.”

She was captured on CCTV running through the corridors of Parliament in tears, before asking a cleaner to help her, in the early hours of October 14 last year.

Mr Armstrong, from Danbury in Essex, denies two counts of rape, one of sexual assault and one of assault by penetration, claiming what happened took place with “full consent.”

Giving evidence at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, Mr Mackinlay said he was not in Parliament on that night.

The MP admitted they had a close relationship.

“Given the age difference I became like – it was almost like father and son, I suppose,” he said.

Mr Armstrong worked as a volunteer activist for the Conservative Party at university before joining Mr Mackinlay’s staff following his election win over Ukip’s Nigel Farage in May 2015.

Mr Mackinlay, himself a former member of Ukip, said Mr Armstrong was appointed as his chief of staff in April last year.

The trial continues.