The Metropolitan Police took no action over an apparent Christmas party at Tory headquarters in London during lockdown in 2020 attended by Shaun Bailey, then the party’s London mayoral candidate, it has emerged.
In a statement, the force said that despite a widely publicized photograph showing Bailey among a crowd of apparent revelers, some with drinks and standing next to a buffet, there was not enough evidence to “disprove the events provided by attendees.”
The decision not to take action against Bailey and the two dozen party staff and aides crammed into a room on Matthew Parker Street in central London, next to a table laden with plates of food, clears the way because the former mayoral candidate. become equal
He is among a number of allies who are understood to have been selected by Boris Johnson to be sent to the Lords in a resignation honor roll. If Bailey still faced a possible fine for breaching the blocking rules, the House of Lords appointments committee (Holac), which investigates new peers, could have blocked the move.
But the Met Police’s decision is likely to spark fresh controversy over the way the force investigated alleged lockdown breaches by politicians and senior aides, particularly in Downing Street.
When the photograph of the Tory HQ meeting emerged in December last year, prompting a police investigation, Bailey, who lost to Sadiq Khan in the mayoral election in May 2021, resigned as chairman of the London assembly’s police and crime committee.
The photo showed several people, including real estate developer and Conservative donor Nick Candy, raising glasses of wine from a buffet laid out on a nearby table. Among the angry responses to the photo, then transport secretary Grant Shapps called it “disgraceful”.
A Met spokesman said the investigation had concluded: “The photo alone is not sufficient evidence to assess that a crime has been committed, however it was considered by detectives alongside all relevant material.
“This included speaking to staff at the site and, in line with the Met’s established approach to retrospective investigations under the coronavirus regulations, issuing statutory questionnaires to a number of people who had been identified from the photo.”
The spokesman added: “The inquiry thoroughly reviewed all the material and, after careful consideration, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence to disprove the version of events provided by those present to a standard that would meet the required threshold “.
While Met officers spoke to staff, those investigated for alleged offenses were only questioned via a written questionnaire, as was the case with investigations into the parties breaching the lockdown in Downing Street.
However, Bailey could yet prove another controversial name on a list of new peers that has reportedly caused concern for Holac, which vets nominees for suitability and suitability. Johnson’s other allies who are being considered include former aides Ross Kempsell, 30, and Charlotte Owen, believed to be in her twenties, who would become the youngest living peers.
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Holac members, who are also equal, do not speak publicly about their roles, but appear to be concerned about creating colleagues with such limited experience, particularly Owen, who worked as a political intern five years ago.
After a stint as a parliamentary assistant to Johnson and two other Tory MPs, she spent 18 months as the relatively young No 10 adviser, her official rank being the second lowest of four.
Kempsell, a former No 10 Conservative party staffer who is a friend of Johnson and his wife Carrie, also has relatively little experience, having worked as a journalist before 2019.
Also included among the new peers suggested are Johnson’s former chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, his former deputy chief of staff Ben Gascoigne and a host of loyal Tory MPs: Nadine Dorries, Alok Sharma, Alister Jack and Nigel Adams.
MPs are understood to have agreed to delay the peerage assumption to avoid potentially tricky by-elections.