Ex-London Mayoral Candidate Bailey Resigns as Damning Photos From Lockdown Christmas Party Emerge

The politician is said to have thrown a party when Tier 2 rules were in force in London, severely restricting any public events due to the raging coronavirus pandemic.

A prominent London Conservative, ex-London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey has stepped down from his post in the London Assembly after The Mirror published photos of him and his aides gathering for a Christmas party amid stringent coronavirus restrictions last year.

"Shaun Bailey AM has today stood aside as Chairman of the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee", a spokesman for Greater London Authority said.

The event, organised by Bailey's mayoral campaign, reportedly took place on 14 December 2020, as Londoners were banned from indoor meetings unless they were work meetings.

Yet, in the photos published by the tabloid, Bailey can be seen together with more than a dozen aides and donors (at least 24 people altogether), wearing Christmas jumpers and surrounded by huge amounts of food and drinks.

Addressing the event, the Conservative Campaign Headquarters said: "Senior CCHQ staff became aware of an unauthorised social gathering in the basement of [CCHQ] organised by the Bailey campaign on the evening of 14th December... Formal disciplinary action was taken against the four CCHQ staff who were seconded to the Bailey campaign".

The news of the unfortunate gathering comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson was himself blasted for allowing a Christmas party to take place on Downing Street in 2020, allegedly breaking the restrictions the government had imposed. Johnson's ratings have since hit an all-time low.

Johnson was also criticised for allegedly holding a Christmas quiz for his staffers. While the prime minister stressed there were no violations, since it was a virtual quiz, a report in The Mirror emerged, suggesting that Downing Street staff was told to "go out the back" when they left.

"Teams in the office should ensure that they arrange themselves behind the perspex screens", it read, adding: "All staff will be required to leave the office immediately after the end of the quiz", an email, reportedly sent to the captains of the quiz teams read.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures during a press conference for the latest COVID-19 update in the Downing Street briefing room in central London on December 8, 2021.

© AFP 2023 / ADRIAN DENNIS

But the reports said, citing sources, that the staff stayed on for two hours after the quiz for drinks and chatting.

The newspaper also found out the names of the teams participating in the quiz, including "Professor Quiz Whitty", "Rebels without a Claus", and "Hands, Face, First Place".