Deputy Commons Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing set to cling on to her position despite claims she hosted the alleged lockdown-busting party attended by Sir Bernard Jenkin
- The ‘birthday drinks’ bash is alleged to have taken place in December 2020
A deputy Speaker of the Commons looks set to cling on to her position despite claims she hosted the alleged lockdown-busting party attended by Sir Bernard Jenkin.
The ‘birthday drinks’ bash in December 2020 is alleged to have taken place in the offices of Dame Eleanor Laing.
But yesterday parliamentary sources said she will not be standing down from her Deputy Speaker role despite facing a formal police probe along with Sir Bernard.
Some sources speculated that she could be ‘in trouble’ for allegedly hosting the birthday drinks after Scotland Yard said it was launching an investigation on Tuesday.
It raises the prospect of her chairing debates about rule-breaking and having to rein in unruly MPs while facing questions about her own alleged conduct.
The ‘birthday drinks’ bash in December 2020 is alleged to have taken place in the offices of Dame Eleanor Laing
The event, to celebrate the birthday of Sir Bernard’s wife Baroness Jenkin, took place at a time when all indoor socialising was against Covid regulations in England.
Other attendees included Tory MP Virginia Crosbie, who last month apologised for taking part and said it was an ‘error of judgment’.
An invite sent by Sir Bernard’s wife on WhatsApp described the planned bash as a ‘birthday drinks’ party for ‘a few of our favourite people’.
At the time, lockdown regulations made clear that ‘you must not meet socially indoors with family or friends unless they are part of your household…or support bubble’.
