Former Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey awarded peerage by Boris Johnson

Former Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey has been awarded a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list.

Mr Bailey, who stood against Sadiq Khan in 2021 and currently serves on the London Assembly, was one of seven peerages approved by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Neil Garratt, leader of the City Hall Conservatives, said: "Shaun is a respected colleague, a valued Assembly Member, and an important voice for Londoners. I am delighted to congratulate him on his well-deserved appointment to the House of Lords."

As the party’s 2021 mayoral candidate, Mr Bailey received some 35.3 per cent of the vote in the first round of the contest, rising to 44.8 per cent in the run-off - a tighter result than earlier polls had predicted.

During the ‘partygate’ scandal, a photograph emerged of Mr Bailey taking part in a gathering which was alleged to have broken Covid restrictions.

Mr Bailey and Tory aides were seen posing for the photo, raising glasses besides buffet food while London was under ‘Tier 2’ restrictions in December 2020. Socialising indoors was banned.

But the Met Police said it found "insufficient evidence to disprove the version of events provided by attendees", and decided to take no action against him and all others present.

Former PM Mr Johnson’s resignation honours list, published on Friday, includes several close allies such as Jacob Rees-Mogg, Bill Cash, Michael Fabricant and Priti Patel.

Kulveer Singh Ranger, a former director of transport while Mr Johnson was London mayor, was also put forward for a peerage.

Mr Ranger oversaw the rollout of London’s cycle hire scheme, otherwise known as ‘Boris bikes’.