The Metropolitan police have recommended 24 fixed-penalty notices be imposed for breaches of Covid rules at a pandemic-era Christmas party held by the campaign team of a Conservative peer.
Officers initially decided to take no action over the December 2020 gathering at the Conservative headquarters (CCHQ), despite a photograph showing the then mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey amid a crowd of apparent revellers – with some holding drinks and standing next to a buffet.
However, the investigation was reopened in July after a video emerged of the event, appearing to show Tory party staff drinking alcohol and dancing during the gathering, held by the campaign team involved in Bailey’s unsuccessful bid to become London mayor.
It is not known if Bailey, who was made a Conservative peer this year in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list despite the investigation, is among those who faces a fine, as the Met does not identify people given such penalties.
A police statement said that after a new investigation into events at the building in Matthew Parker Street, central London, on 14 December 2020, the force had made 24 referrals for fixed-penalty notices over breaches of Covid-19 regulations.
The statement said that while the force’s default position was that it would not routinely investigate breaches of the Covid regulations retrospectively, this could happen if there was evidence those involved knew or ought to have known they were committing an offence; where “not investigating would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law”; and if there was “little ambiguity around the absence of any reasonable defence”.
It added: “We will not be releasing or confirming the identity of anyone involved in these investigations or providing further details of our findings, in line with the approach we took throughout the pandemic.”
The same statement said the force was still investigating a gathering in parliament on 8 December 2020, believed to be a drinks party event held by Dame Eleanor Laing, a Commons deputy speaker, and attended by the Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, among others.
Bailey faced calls to refuse or delay his peerage pending the result of the police inquiry, but has taken his seat in the Lords.
A Conservative spokesperson said: “Senior CCHQ staff became aware of an unauthorised social gathering in the basement of Matthew Parker Street organised by the Bailey campaign on the evening of 14th December 2020.
“Formal disciplinary action was taken against the four CCHQ staff who were seconded to the Bailey campaign.”
Scotland Yard’s initial decision not to impose any penalties on the basis of just the still photograph was made because, the force said, there was not enough evidence to “disprove the version of events provided by attendees”.
However, footage of what was described at the time as a “jingle and mingle” event showed a closely gathered group of staffers talking loudly, some holding drinks, while a man dressed in a Christmas jumper danced with a woman.
Among those who also appeared in the video was Ben Mallet, Bailey’s campaign director at the time, who later ran the campaign for Mozammel Hossain, who made the shortlist to be the Tory candidate at next year’s London mayoral election.
Bailey, who also attended and was pictured alongside the millionaire property developer and Tory donor Nick Candy in an earlier photograph of the event, apologised “unreservedly” after the video emerged.
Bailey and Mallet, who is a close friend of Carrie Johnson, the wife of Boris Johnson, were handed a peerage and an OBE respectively in the former prime minister’s controversial resignation honours. Bailey has said it was for “others to decide” whether he should lose the peerage.
The new penalties risk resurrecting a controversy which the Conservatives had hoped would recede into the past for voters, after it played a pivotal role in the demise of Johnson as prime minister.
In April last year, Johnson was given a fixed-penalty notice for attending a party for his own birthday in No 10 in July 2020. Rishi Sunak, the then chancellor, and Carrie Johnson were also penalised for attending.
Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour’s chairperson, said: “While the British people made huge sacrifices to save lives during the pandemic, we’ve seen countless examples of Conservatives thinking the rules simply don’t apply to them.
“Despite this, Rishi Sunak still saw fit to allow Shaun Bailey to enter the House of Lords.
“This clearly demonstrates his promise of professionalism, integrity and accountability is nothing more than a hollow joke.”
