A former Tooting Conservative parliamentary candidate will be investigated by the party after claims of bullying and a ministerial resignation.

Mark Clarke, known as the Tatler Tory, ran in 2010 against Labour MP Sadiq Khan, getting 19,518 votes and coming second.

September 2008: Tory candidate launches hooker hotline

He was suspended permanently from the Conservatives after he was named in an apparent suicide note following the death of party activist Elliott Johnson.

On Sunday, then chairman Grant Shapps MP resigned his ministerial position, as international development minister amid the claims of bullying which it is said he ignored.

The Conservatives announced that a legal firm, Clifford Chance, would conduct a full investigation.

A Conservative party statement said: "The Board would like to express its profound regret at the tragic death of Elliott Johnson and sends its deepest condolences to his family and friends.

"From December 1, the investigation will be conducted in its entirety by the law firm Clifford Chance LLP. This will include taking witness statements and the collation and review of all written evidence.

"Clifford Chance LLP will review all interviews already conducted and give those already interviewed the option to be reinterviewed.

"No party officials will be involved in this process, other than as witnesses."

The party also confirmed that crossbench peer Lord Pannick QC will review the investigative process to ensure it is objective.

The report will be published, with sensitivity given to vulnerable witnesses.

As candidate, Mr Clarke, then of Fonteney Road, spoke to the Wandsworth Guardian in September 2008, about problems with prostitutes in his area.

He pledged to tackle the issue, asking residents to email him each time they spotted a "kerb crawler" and he would stand next to them, disrupting their work.

He said: "They think the pimp will get them, or they might get done for kerb crawling themselves.

"But I can do this because everyone including the police knows who I am. They know I’m not harassing anyone."

India Brummitt, a Conservative aide to Clare Perry, had quit after claims emerged that she had sex with Mr Clarke on a pub pool table.

Ms Brummitt, 25, stood in the Furzedown ward in the 2014 Wandsworth council elections, coming fourth with 1,107 votes.

Mr Clarke has denied all allegations of bullying.