Two dozen Tories have avoided Covid lockdown fines over a “raucous” party in the basement of Conservative HQ.
Scotland Yard will take no further action against the group that included flopped London mayor hopeful Shaun Bailey - who is thought to be in line for a peerage from Boris Johnson.
He, Tory aides and donor Nick Candy were pictured posing for a photo - revealed by the Mirror - beside buffet food and glasses while London was in ‘Tier 2’.
The regional restrictions in December 2020 banned any social mixing between households indoors.
Several of those gathered wore festive hats, and one was in a House of Commons Christmas jumper as they smiled for the camera.
But the Metropolitan Police said in a statement today that officers found "insufficient evidence to disprove the version of events provided by attendees".
The Times reported that a "raucous" party took place in the basement while Tier 2 restrictions were in place.
After the Daily Mirror published the picture at the gathering, the Met launched an investigation.
But the force has now concluded that the "photo by itself is not sufficient evidence on which to assess that an offence had been committed".
Officers issued attendees of the event on December 14 2020 with questionnaires to determine whether breaches of the rules were committed and fines should be issued.
"The investigation reviewed all the material thoroughly and, after careful consideration, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence to disprove the version of events provided by attendees to a standard that would meet the threshold required," the Met said.
"As a result, a decision was made that no further action should be taken."
Questions over the event at CCHQ in Westminster were raised after it emerged that Boris Johnson has put Mr Bailey forward for a peerage in his resignation honours list.
The former Conservative candidate to be London's mayor had already apologised "unreservedly" for the event organised by his campaign team and said it was a "serious error of judgment".
At the time allies said Mr Bailey briefly attended to give a speech thanking the group at its end-of-year-briefing.
A Shaun Bailey campaign spokesperson said at the time: "On the evening of 14 December 2020, at the end of the working day, the campaign hosted a post-work event to thank campaign staff for their efforts over the course of they year.
"This was a serious error of judgement and we fully accept that gathering like this as that time was wrong and apologise unreservedly".
Mr Bailey’s team later said he resigned from the committee to avoid the “unauthorised social gathering” distracting from its work holding police to account.
Mr Bailey, who remains a London Assembly Member, resigned as chairman of the governing body's Police and Crime Committee after the Mirror approached him over the photo.
The Met issued 126 fines over rule breaches in Whitehall and Downing Street while Mr Johnson was prime minister, in a scandal that helped end his tenure in No 10.
Mr Johnson and his then-chancellor Rishi Sunak paid £50 fixed-penalty notices over a gathering held for Mr Johnson's 56th birthday.
