Former Tory mayor candidate quits over alleged lockdown Christmas party
Shaun Bailey announced his resignation on Tuesday
Last updated 15th Dec 2021
Former Conservative mayoral hopeful Shaun Bailey has quit as chairman of the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee.
His resignation as chairman of the committee came shortly before The Mirror published a photograph of him and other staff at a party in Conservative headquarters.
The image showed 24 people with drinks, and buffet food laid out.
The Tories previously admitted the party had taken place on December 14, when London was in Tier 2 restrictions, and said that staff had been disciplined.
And the GLA Conservatives confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Bailey had stepped back from the role.
In a statement, they said:
"Shaun Bailey AM has today stood aside as chairman of the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee.
"He does not want an unauthorised social gathering involving some former members of the London mayoral campaign team last December to distract from the committee's important work holding the Mayor of London to account.
"He will continue to speak up for Londoners who no longer feel safe in our city and push for a strategy to tackle the disproportionate level of crime in London's black community."
A Tory spokesman previously said:
"Senior CCHQ (Conservative Campaign Headquarters) staff became aware of an unauthorised social gathering in the basement of Matthew Parker Street organised by the Bailey campaign on the evening of December 14.
"Formal disciplinary action was taken against the four CCHQ staff who were seconded to the Bailey campaign."
But on Tuesday, Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said the newly-revealed photo showed "just how rotten Johnson's Conservative Party has become".
She said:
"The image of Bailey and his mates living it up at Conservative HQ while the British public were locked down and the NHS was saving lives, is another punch to the stomach to everyone who followed the rules.
"From No 10 to Tory HQ, the slew of rule-breaking revelations show that Boris Johnson has set a very low bar for standards within his party and his presence in Downing Street is eroding public trust."
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has been tasked with investigating alleged gatherings or parties held in Government buildings during restrictions.
It has been suggested he could come back with his findings as early as this week.