LORD Feldman was allowed to chair yesterday’s Tory crisis talks over the party’s bullying scandal — that he is implicated in.

A Conservative spokesman confirmed the peer chaired a board meeting “as usual” despite facing growing calls to resign.

The Tory chairman is accused of ignoring complaints about the conduct of top Tory aide Mark Clarke, which are linked to the suicide of youth activist Elliott Johnson.

The father of Mr Johnson and senior Tories have demanded that Prime Minister David Cameron sack his long-time friend and tennis partner.

The Conservative Party also revealed on Sunday that Mr Feldman will be one of 40 people quizzed as part of an internal party investigation.

A statement following yesterday’s board meeting looked to distance the party from the running of the investigation, stating that from today (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.

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

It also confirmed that while Mr Feldman will remain as chair, he will not chair discussion on the investigations: “Lord Feldman and Rob Halfon MP will recuse themselves from the board meeting which considers the Clifford Chance report.”

Chancellor George Osborne was the latest senior Tory dispatched to defend the party’s chief fundraiser.

He said: “Andrew Feldman is an outstanding chairman of the Conservative Party. He is also a person of real integrity.”

Grant Shapps resigned as Overseas Aid Minister at the weekend as part of the Tories’ damage limitation efforts, saying “the buck should stop with me.”

Mr Shapps was co-chairman of the party for a time and was responsible for hiring Mr Clarke.

But Mr Feldman has been in sole control of the party for the past seven months, including when Mr Johnson was found on railways tracks in September.

Conservative Home executive editor Mark Wallis told the BBC Daily Politics that Mr Feldman must also resign.

He said: “We know from our investigations after the elections into how the Tory ground war was run that, while Grant Shapps could suggest things, Lord Feldman had to sign them off, had to approve them, had to sign those cheques.

“I think his position has become untenable.”

The Tories were also under pressure yesterday to allow an independent investigation into how it handled bullying claims.

The party’s current in-house probe was compared to “marking your own homework.”

Baroness Emma Pidding, who is accused of leaking the names of young activists who complained about Mr Clarke to him, also made the call.

She said: “Events over the past 48 hours have made it clear any investigation organised by the Conservative Party into its own handling of this sorry affair will lack credibility.”