Who was the senior Conservative with Nigel Hastilow on Saturday night?

I’ve only had Nigel Hastilow’s account of events in tonight’s Express and Star read to me over the phone but one extract is curious in that is seems almost designed to widen the net on this story.

In describing the sequence of events Mr Hastilow says:

 ”…the Conservative Party press office came on to me, closely followed by Caroline Spelman herself. Caroline, the Chairman of the party, didn’t mince her words. She was not happy. My political career was on the line. I was summoned to meet her on Sunday at 2pm.

“I turned off the phone and tried to enjoy a fireworks display with, among others, another senior Conservative.They said they agreed with everything I’d said; they were just very glad it was me saying it, not them.”

Who can the senior Tory be and why would Nigel Hastilow want to set the media hounds searching for her or him?