Shaun Bailey: Ex-mayoral candidate faces calls to resign over party

Shaun Bailey lost the 2021 mayoral election by 228,000 votes

Ex-mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey is facing calls to resign from a key London Assembly committee amid reports his team held a party during lockdown.

The Conservatives admitted an event organised by his mayoral campaign took place in its Westminster headquarters on 14 December 2020 when London was in Tier 2 and household mixing was banned.

Mr Bailey, who is chair of the police and crime committee, has not commented.

It comes amid the launch of an official probe into three government parties.

A Conservative Party spokesperson revealed on Wednesday that four members of Mr Bailey's campaign team were disciplined following the "unauthorised social gathering" in the basement last December, which was described as "raucous".

'Untenable'

Mr Bailey, who came second in the London mayoral election in May, received a letter from Labour London Assembly member Leonie Cooper on Thursday calling for him to clarify whether he attended the party himself.

In the letter, Ms Cooper said Mr Bailey's position as chair of the police and crime committee was "untenable" and called on him to step down "until the necessary inquiries have seen completion".

The City Hall Conservatives have not yet responded to a request for comment.

Boris Johnson announced on Wednesday that an inquiry would be carried out by top civil servant Simon Case, after a video from last year emerged of government staff joking about a party that took place on 18 December - a day on which more than 400 Covid deaths were reported.

Government spokeswoman Allegra Stratton resigned over the video, obtained by ITV News, in which she appeared.