The Metropolitan Police have issued fines to 24 people who attended a party at the Conservative headquarters during COVID-19 lockdowns, the force said on Friday.
The fines are related to a “jingle and mingle” event in December 2020 at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) for activists on behalf of Shaun Bailey’s unsuccessful effort to be London mayor.
Lord Bailey, who received a peerage in former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours, has previously apologised “unreservedly” for the event organised by his campaign team, and said it was a “serious error of judgment.”
It’s part of an investigation into so-called partygate—a number of lockdown-busting gatherings at Downing Street, other government buildings, and the CCHQ which contributed to the demise of the Johnson government.
In an update published on Friday, the Met said it has made 24 referrals for fixed penalty notices (FPNs) to the ACRO Criminal Records Office for breaches of COVID-19 regulations.
The Met didn’t reveal the identities of those who received the fines.
The partygate investigations were initially completed in May last year, with a total of 126 FPNs issued to 83 people, including 53 to 35 men and 73 to 48 women, by May last year.
In July, the force reopened the investigation into two gatherings after receiving new evidence, including the CCHQ “jingle and mingle” event and another event in the same month when Privileges Committee member Sir Bernard Jenkin reportedly attended a “birthday drinks” event for his wife in Parliament.
The second investigation is still ongoing, the Met said on Friday.
Scotland Yard said it doesn’t “routinely investigate breaches of the COVID regulations retrospectively, and only do so where there is evidence of a serious and flagrant breach” and where: There was evidence that those involved knew or ought to have known that what they were doing was an offence; Where not investigating would significantly undermine the legitimacy of the law and; Where there was little ambiguity around the absence of any reasonable defence.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said the CCHQ gathering was “unauthorised.”
“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 [Dec. 14] 2020,” the spokesman said.
“Formal disciplinary action was taken against the four CCHQ staff who were seconded to the Bailey campaign.”
