NI21 leader Basil McCrea did not breach the code governing assembly members' behaviour in his relations with a female party worker, Stormont's standards commissioner has concluded.
A long-running probe launched in the wake of complaints against Mr McCrea has cleared the Lagan Valley MLA of all allegations, including one of inappropriate sexual conduct.
The Irish News understands that standards commissioner Douglas Bain accepted the NI21 leader's plea that he was not acting as a member of the assembly during the incidents at the centre of the investigation.
Mr Bain launched his enquiry in 2014 in the wake of claims by one-time NI21 worker Ashleigh Murray.
The then 23-year-old, who was Mr McCrea’s assistant and then worked in his Lisburn constituency office, accused him of inappropriate sexual behaviour. The NI21 leader has denied the accusations.
The claims came to light in May 2014 on the eve of the European and local government elections. The storm surrounding the allegations against Mr McCrea led to the resignation of NI21's chairwoman Tina McKenzie and party founder John McCallister.
Mr Bain concluded his investigation into the Mr McCrea's behaviour last year.
However, the contents of his report have been kept under wraps.
Members of Stormont's standards and privileges committee have been allowed to read the commissioner's conclusions but have been forbidden from removing hard copies of his report from the committee room.
Its contents are expected to be published next month although it is understood tracts may be redacted.
Mr McCrea told The Irish News that legal restrictions meant he was unable to comment on the report.
"However, I look forward to being in a position where I can talk freely about it in the not too distant future," he said.
The episode involving Ms Murray in the spring of 2014, alongside a decision to re-designate from 'unionist' to 'other' in the assembly, led to turmoil within the fledgling NI21.
When the party was launched by former Ulster Unionists Mr McCrea and Mr McCallister in the summer of 2013 it was seen as a potential new force in Northern Irish politics.
However, in the wake of the controversial allegations against Mr McCrea the party lost key personnel with a split in the relationship between its two founding members who had set up NI21 after they left the Ulster Unionist Party in 2013.
