Senior Tory tells Shaun Bailey to give back peerage after Partygate shame

A senior Conservative has called on former Tory London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey to hand back the peerage given to him by Boris Johnson.

Video and new details of the December 2020 Christmas party organised by Mr Bailey’s team Tory headquarters has sparked renewed anger over the Partygate scandal.

The Metropolitan Police announced on Monday that it was launching a new investigation into the CCHQ event where Tory staffers were filmed dancing and joking about “bending” Covid rules.

Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defence select committee, said there are now “big questions” around Mr Bailey’s peerage.

“Absolutely he needs to consider that, if I’m frank,” Mr Ellwood told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme when asked if he should hand back the honour.

The senior Tory MP said that Rishi Sunak should “grasp” the issue of peerages, adding: “You can’t simply have prime ministers stuffing the Lords with their friends.”

He added: “If there’s anything to come of this, I really encourage Mr Sunak to now draw a line under Boris Johnson’s tenure and indeed influence over the parliamentary party.”

It emerged on Monday that the Tory activists were formally invited to a “jingle and mingle” party while the rest of London remained under strict tier 2 curbs on socialising.

An invitation to the event obtained by BBC News read: “JINGLE AND MINGLE: Save the date – Monday December 14th at 6pm for the Shaun Bailey for London holiday party.”

Sir Mark Rowley, Metropolitan police commissioner, appeared to confirm the investigation into the CCHQ party would be formally reopened.

“I need to let a team work through that, but I think we can all guess which way it will go,” the commissioner told the News Agents podcast. Sir Mark said: “It’s very obvious a video tells a much richer, clearer story than a photo.”

Mr Bailey apologised “unreservedly” after the video emerged in the Mirror of his staff partying despite lockdown restrictions – but said it was for “others to decide” what happens to his peerage.

Asked whether he should give up his going, he replied: “That will be for others to decide – for me, it has been a great privilege and I would like to keep doing work for the rest of the country and London as well.”

It added to the pressure on Mr Sunak to strip the failed mayoral candidate Mr Bailey of the peerage he was given in Mr Johnson’s honours list, and the OBE given to aide Ben Mallet, also visible in the video.

But No 10 said there were “no plans” for Mr Sunak to strip honours from two Tories who were at the party at CCHQ. His official spokesman said the PM had “followed the process” of leaving resignation honours to the Lords’ authorities.

Work and pensions secretary Mel Stride struggled the answer questions about the peerage. The cabinet minister, when asked if Mr Bailey’s peerage was in question, said he did not want to prejudge the police investigation.

He told BBC Radio 4 that Scotland Yard “will no doubt come to their conclusions and then there are mechanisms involving the forfeiture committee that can lead to changes to honours that have been given in the past”.

Commons leader Penny Mordaunt appeared to criticise Mr Johnson’s honours list. The cabinet minister, who voted against the former PM and backed the privileges committee report in the Commons, said it raised “wider issues – such as the debasement of our honours system”.

Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “While the Conservatives ‘jingled and mingled’, the British public followed the rules and did the right thing,” adding: “Sunak should personally intervene and urge those implicated to give up their honours.”

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard announced that it was “assessing information and new material” over events in 2020 and 2021, including material passed by the Cabinet Office about gatherings at No 10 and Chequers while Mr Johnson was in charge.

The force said it was also assessing media reporting of “alleged breaches in parliament” and looking at previously unseen video footage of a Christmas gathering at Tory headquarters in December 2020.