A former Conservative mayoral candidate who attended a Covid regulation-breaching Christmas party has quit as chair of a police and crime committee.
Shaun Bailey’s team organised the gathering at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters on 14 December 2020 when London was under Tier 2 restrictions banning household mixing.
He has now stepped down from the role but remains a member of the committee and the London Assembly.
Mr Bailey has yet to comment.
A spokesperson for the Greater London Authority Conservatives said Mr Bailey chose to step down to prevent the “unauthorised social gathering” distracting from the committee’s work of holding the Mayor of London to account.
Last week it emerged that four members of Mr Bailey’s campaign team had been disciplined over the “raucous” party in the basement of the Conservatives’ Westminster base.
He was said to have briefly attended to give a speech thanking the group, some of whom stayed on for the banned gathering, at its end-of-year-briefing.
Mr Bailey, who came second in May’s London mayoral election, had faced mounting calls to quit against a backdrop of the launch of an official probe into three government parties.
I speak English - I take it this is the same language right ?
My first post was about Shaun Bailey and there was no excuse for his behaviour - the second I said their will be news stories about labour breaking the rules. Thats quite balanced right ?
You then told me that “only the right” are not hypocrites - not true as I have illustrated with my Shaun Bailey post ( he is a conservative by the way and ran against Sadiq Kahn for London Mayor).
An extraordinary image has emerged of a “raucous” Christmas party thrown by Tory aides during coronavirus restrictions last Christmas.
It shows 24 people crowded together - in blatant breach of lockdown rules - in a medium-sized room in the party’s Westminster HQ.
Some of the group are shown wearing paper hats while one is sporting a House of Commons Christmas jumper.
The event, organised by top Tory Shaun Bailey ’s mayoral campaign, took place on December 14 last year when London was in Tier 2.
The image also shows several guests - including billionaire Tory donor Nick Candy - raising glasses of wine while a catered buffet features prominently.
I really try not to personalise it, because the rules were for all our protection, and even if they ignored them, those of us who did keep to them probably helped within our own circle
But seeing those smiling faces isn’t helping when I know my family missed out on a lot of precious time with my mum, who died the following June, because we stuck to the rules
There are a great many people who have ignored the rules over the pandemic, Labour, Tory ,Liberal and above all the general public but you won’t read about any of them in the Mirror or on the BBC. Only if your a Tory. It seems the the Media rules in the UK. The Media in this country is predominantly of the Left and despises the Conservatives so much that there is nothing they would not do or say to bring them down.
Scotland Yard is taking no action against former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey nor other people who attended a gathering at Conservative Party HQ during a Covid lockdown.
The Met said it found “insufficient evidence to disprove the version of events provided by attendees”. The Met concluded the “photo by itself is not sufficient evidence on which to assess that an offence had been committed”.
Officers issued attendees with questionnaires to decide whether breaches of the rules were committed and fines should be issued.
“The investigation reviewed all the material thoroughly and after careful consideration, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence to disprove the version of events provided by attendees to a standard that would meet the threshold required,” the Met said. “As a result, a decision was made that no further action should be taken.”
A picture is not proof of a party if all the attendees say there wasn’t one …
Police have made referrals for 24 fixed penalty notices for people who attended a Christmas party at Conservative Party HQ in 2020, for breaching Covid rules.
Lord Bailey has previously apologised for the gathering, at which people were invited to “jingle and mingle”, while indoor socialising was banned.
The Metropolitan Police reopened an investigation into the 14 December party earlier this year after the Daily Mirror published video footage of the “jingle and mingle” event, which took place in the basement of Matthew Parker Street.
In a statement, the Met said they would not be confirming the identity of anyone involved or providing further details of their findings “in line with the approach we took throughout the pandemic”.
Both Lord Bailey, who was given a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list and Tory aide Ben Mallett - who became an OBE in the same list - attended the gathering while Covid restrictions were in force. Both have been approached for comment.
Better late than never …
An inquiry into an event in Parliament six days earlier is continuing.
I wonder if the police had to have their arms twisted to follow up that one, too …
