In April Guido exclusively revealed that Ben Mallet was standing as a Tory candidate in Kingston, London. ‘Ben who?’ Guido hears co-conspirators asking…

Mallet came to prominence during the mayoral election last year as Shaun Bailey’s head of comms, and was later pictured prominently among the crowd at Bailey’s lockdown-breaking CCHQ party, lying on the floor in braces with wine. Guido can now confirm Mallet failed to gain a seat, losing by 14 votes to fellow Conservative Jamal Chohan…

Mallet: hammered…

With talk that the PM’s team now firmly believe he can ride out Partygate, it seems the Tories are so confident the public have moved on from the furore they’re willing to put up local election candidates who were caught red-handed. A co-conspirator in Richmond notices that the local declaration forms list the Kingston Tories’ Tudor Ward candidate as Ben Mallet. Albeit spelt ‘Mallett’ for some reason…

Why might the name ring a bell? Ben Mallet was Shaun Bailey’s campaign manager, who when not busy briefing that Bailey was on the verge of unseating Sadiq was snapped front and centre of the infamous Bailey CCHQ party, lying on the ground next to the buffet, complete with wine and braces.

Ironically, the Tory party’s council candidate application form asks “Are there any matters which may cause embarrassment to the Party if they became public knowledge?” Clearly Ben believes not…

UPDATE: The local Tory branch tells Guido, “Ben grew up in Kingston, went to school locally and is a proud citizen of our Borough. He understands the issues facing local residents and will make a fantastic local representative. We look forward to welcoming him to the Council in a few weeks’ time.”