Shaun Bailey has been given an official start date for the House of Lords, just a day after the police announced a new investigation into alleged lawbreaking by his campaign.
The Tory mayoral hopeful and his staff held a “Jingle and Mingle” Christmas party in the basement of Tory HQ – while such indoor gatherings were banned under Covid-19 rules.
But Mr Bailey, who has repeatedly failed to get elected to parliament, was handed a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours and is set to take up a seat in the legislature for the rest of his life.
The Independent previously revealed that he was due to take his seat as soon as the middle of this month, despite the ongoing storm over the event.
Now, with the police reopening its investigation following new evidence, House of Lords authorities have publicly confirmed Mr Bailey will be “introduced as a Baron” on 18 July, in less than two weeks.
The former candidate previously apologised “unreservedly” for the party and said he was “very upset” to see the footage. “It [the gathering] obviously turned into something once I’d left, I didn’t realise that,” he said.
There have been calls for the London Assembly member to consider turning down the peerage in light of the revelations, including from Conservative MPs.
Former justice secretary Robert Buckland told Sky News on Wednesday morning: “If there is fresh information and important fresh evidence that really casts more than a cloud over that individual’s reputation then they should seriously think, at the very least, about not accepting a peerage.”
But No 10 dismissed the idea of intervening to block Mr Bailey’s peerage on Wednesday, saying the vetting process had already been conducted.
Asked whether Mr Sunak thought Mr Bailey should give up peerage, his press secretary said: “It’s a matter for the individual, not a matter for the prime minister.”
The ex-mayoral hopeful has said it is “for others to decide” whether he takes up the honour.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued on Tuesday: “The Met is now re-opening an investigation into potential breaches of the regulations at an event in Matthew Parker Street on 14 December 2020.”
Matthew Parker Street is the location of Tory HQ where the event is said to have taken place.
A Conservative Party 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 Shaun Bailey campaign.”
