Jingle & Mingle party: Shaun Bailey should consider turning down peerage, says Tory MP

Shaun Bailey should see declining his peerage implicit a lockdown enactment for unit connected his failed London mayoral bid, elder Tory MP Tobias Ellwood says.

Guests were invited to "jingle and mingle" astatine the 2020 Christmas gathering, astatine a clip erstwhile indoor societal events were banned.

Mr Bailey is acceptable to go a beingness subordinate of the Lords, aft Boris Johnson nominated him for a peerage.

He has said it was "for others to decide" whether helium takes his seat.

Asked connected BBC Radio 4's Today programme whether Mr Bailey should see his position, Mr Ellwood replied: "Absolutely, helium needs to see that, if we're being frank."

"There are large questions there, I don't deliberation I tin reply those now," added the seat of the Commons defence committee.

It comes aft a video was published by The Mirror implicit the weekend, showing unit connected Mr Bailey's run squad drinking and dancing astatine the lawsuit successful Tory HQ successful London.

In the footage, 1 idiosyncratic is heard saying it is OK to movie "as agelong arsenic we don't watercourse that we're, like, bending the rules".

The BBC has seen an invitation to the party, successful which guests were asked to prevention the day for "the Shaun Bailey for London Holiday Party" and were invited to "jingle and mingle".

It was sent to 30 radical connected behalf of Ben Mallet, a erstwhile adjutant to Boris Johnson seen chatting to guests successful the latest footage, who was awarded an OBE by the erstwhile premier curate successful his resignation honours database earlier this month.

At the time, London was nether Tier-2 restrictions which banned indoor socialising.

The Conservative Party said 4 radical were disciplined implicit the event, though it has not named them.

Although Mr Bailey does not diagnostic successful the footage, helium apologised again connected Monday, saying helium hadn't seen the video but was "very upset" by it.

He said helium had not chosen the squad of unit seen successful the video, but "the subordinate yet stops with me".

"It evidently turned into thing erstwhile I'd left, I didn't realise that," helium added.

He has said it would beryllium "for others to decide" whether helium takes up his seat.

He added helium considered it a "great privilege" and helium would similar to "keep doing enactment for the remainder of the country, and London arsenic well".

However, the co-founder of a run radical representing families bereaved by Covid said those progressive should suffer their honours.

Matt Fowler, whose begetter Ian died successful 2020, told the Guardian: "For galore of america it's overmuch much hard to spot this successful person. It's conscionable been a truly gut-wrenching acquisition each around."

The gathering connected 14 December 2020 was organised by the run squad for Mr Bailey, a Tory subordinate of the London Assembly who was moving to beryllium the capital's politician astatine the time.

The Metropolitan Police investigated the lawsuit aft a inactive representation archetypal emerged successful precocious 2021, but decided to instrumentality nary enactment against those who attended. It has since said it is reviewing the caller footage.

Metropolitan Police main Sir Mark Rowley said connected Monday the unit was not alert of the video during the inquiry, adding it "tells a communicative mode beyond the archetypal photo" published of the gathering.

"I request to fto a squad enactment done that, but I deliberation we tin each conjecture which mode it volition go," helium told the News Agents podcast.

Life peers tin voluntarily resign their rank of the House of Lords, but authorities is required to region it.

However, Hannah White from the Institute for Government deliberation vessel told Today said they "would retain, successful theory, the rubric of the peerage".

For different types of honours, specified arsenic MBEs and OBEs, the Forfeiture Committee - portion of the Cabinet Office - tin urge to the monarch that an grant beryllium removed.

However, it has nary investigatory powers and tin lone bespeak the "findings of authoritative investigations".

On Sunday, lodging caput Michael Gove said helium didn't deliberation those attending the enactment precocious fixed honours should suffer their awards.

He added that "the determination astir who was connected that database is Boris Johnson's" - and the authorities needed to respect "due process".