Barclay saga comes to an end - of sorts
ANALYSIS: After months of reporting, the Todd Barclay story finally came to something of a close yesterday when police announced they were dropping the investigation into the former National MP.
Police reopened an investigation into allegations Barclay illegally recorded a staff member after it emerged in June that former prime minister Bill English had been a key witness in the case.
Barclay was accused of secretly recording the conversations of Glenys Dickson. It is illegal in New Zealand to record a conversation you are not a part of.
Police have now closed the case as they have insufficient evidence. No warrants were executed and Barclay again refused to be interviewed.
Who is Todd Barclay?
Barclay, 27, entered Parliament in 2014 as the National Party member for Clutha-Southland.
Before running for Parliament, Barclay worked in Hekia Parata’s office and as a tobacco lobbyist.
So what happened?
Early in 2016, three staff members resigned from Barclay’s electoral office. The second was Glenys Dickson, an electorate office staffer since 1998, who cited an employment problem.
She made a complaint to police, alleging that he had secretly recorded her conversations.
Barclay refused to speak to police and the investigation was eventually dropped.
Then in June, Newsroom revealed that English had been aware of the issue. Hours later, English released a transcript of his conversation with police during their initial investigation.
In that interview English told police Barclay had personally informed him he had recordings of Dickson criticising him.
Police announced they would re-open the investigation and Barclay - while not admitting anything other than misleading media by being overly specific announced he would not seek re-election.
Was that the end of all this?
Not quite. Barclay managed to avoid media for the next wee while, not turning up to several sitting weeks of Parliament.
Barclay eventually returned to Parliament.
Hamish Walker replaced Barclay as the National candidate in Clutha-Southland and easily won the seat.
And Barclay? He moved to London, selling his Queenstown house for a huge profit.
So what happened yesterday?
Police announced they were closing their second investigation into the matter.
‘‘After a thorough review of all information available to us, including legal advice ... plus consideration of the Solicitor General’s prosecution guidelines, Police has (sic) determined that there is no change to the outcome of the original investigation,’’ Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers said.
So, barring new evidence, that appears to be the end of things.