Labour candidate in by-election triggered by Nadine Dorries’ resignation takes unpaid leave from Bank of England job amid row over role in Greenpeace stunt

• Alistair Strathern wore face paint to pose by mock gravestone in demonstration

The Labour candidate in the by-election triggered by Nadine Dorries’ resignation has taken ‘unpaid leave’ from his job at the Bank of England amid a row about his role in a Greenpeace stunt.

Alistair Strathern, 33, donned dark clothing and face paint to pose by a mock gravestone during a demonstration against the Public Order Bill outside the Home Office in November.

Mr Strathern, an Oxford University graduate, describes himself on business networking platform LinkedIn as the ‘climate lead’ for insurance at the Bank of England – leading to calls by Tory MPs for an investigation by Bank Governor Andrew Bailey.

Tory MP Danny Kruger, who is on the Treasury Select Committee, sent a series of questions about Mr Strathern in a letter to Mr Bailey, including whether he was allowed to leave work in the middle of the day to join the stunt.

The row over Mr Strathern’s links to Greenpeace comes after a group of eco-activists scaled the roof of Rishi Sunak’s Yorkshire mansion and unfurled Greenpeace banners.

The Bank declined to comment on Mr Strathern’s position, although sources confirmed that he was currently on unpaid leave.

In his letter to Mr Bailey, who has been criticised for presiding over a ‘woke’ culture at the Bank, Mr Kruger claimed that Mr Stathern ‘may have committed a breach of the Bank of England’s guidance on impartiality’ by joining the November 2022 stunt.

Pointing out that a photograph issued by Greenpeace from its protest outside the Home Office was taken at 10.30am on a Tuesday, Mr Kruger asked: ‘Can you confirm that Mr Strathern received permission to leave work in the middle of the day to perform this protest attacking the Government?

‘Can you confirm what the Bank of England’s policy is on employees taking leave to perform stunts in the middle of the working day?’

Mr Kruger claimed that Mr Strathern had ‘failed in his duty to avoid any suggestion that the Bank is being inappropriately influenced’, and urged Mr Bailey to ‘investigate this case fully and provide me with an assessment of Mr Strathern’s actions and whether his conduct breaches Bank of England guidelines’.

Mr Strathern, who has been a borough councillor in Waltham Forest in North-East London for nearly a decade, took unpaid leave from the Bank in order to campaign for the by-election. Insiders say it was the only way to comply with the Bank’s code of conduct.

Labour’s ties to eco-zealots came under scrutiny after Just Stop Oil backer Dale Vince donated £1.5 million to the party. Labour has confirmed that it will block all new oil and gas projects in the North Sea if it wins the General Election.

Polling puts Mr Strathern on course to overturn Ms Dorries’ majority of nearly 25,000, which would be the largest collapse in support for the party in by-election history.