Westminster Accounts: Middlemen, brokers, and clients – who really pays MPs for their other jobs?
Thirty-eight MPs have taken on second jobs where the ultimate party paying them is unclear, according to Sky News’ analysis of the MPs’ Register of Financial Interests.
The jobs mainly involve MPs being paid through a broker – a consultancy business, a communications firm, or a speakers’ bureau – while not declaring the clients they are working for.
It casts doubt on the systems which are supposed to ensure transparency around MPs’ earnings.
The analysis was conducted as part of the Westminster Accounts – a Sky News and Tortoise Media project that aims to shine a light on money in UK politics.
But this light has made the remaining shadows all the more stark.
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Why the Westminster Accounts matter
Ex-cabinet minister Sir John Whittingdale provides one of the clearest examples of these cases, but two current ministers – Andrew Mitchell and Johnny Mercer – also appear to fall into this category. Some MPs told Sky News they had signed contracts restricting them from being transparent about the clients they’d worked with.
It begs the question of who is really influencing UK politicians, with Transparency International saying the findings could suggest there’s a “culture of opacity” among some MPs.
MPs are supposed to give details about their non-parliamentary earnings in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
On the face of it, that is what Sir John has done.
He’s a former culture secretary and a long-serving MP with a wealth of political experience. He’s been offering his insight, as MPs are entitled to do, via a company called AlphaSights, which connects experts like him with its clients.
But it remains unknown who the clients Sir John spoke to are.
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Sam Coates explains how and why the Westminster Accounts tool was made
He’s reported in his public filings that he’s received more than £10,500 from AlphaSights to tap into his expertise across 17 different engagements.
He was quizzed earlier this year on two of these dealings by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), the watchdog overseeing ex-ministers’ jobs, after he failed to seek approval for this work from the committee.
He was deemed not to have broken any rules, however, as he told the chair of ACOBA that he had no long-term relationship with AlphaSights and they were separate “one-off” speeches he delivered. Prior approval is not necessary for one-off speeches.
However, this seems hard to reconcile with the fact that Sir John has had 15 other engagements with AlphaSights since 2017, as the Westminster Accounts help reveal. And an ex-AlphaSights employee has told Sky News that rather than “speeches”, the work typically involves attending a meeting or having a call with two or three people from the client company.
These clients, who pay a fee for the privilege, are usually investment firms and consultancies looking for insight from experts to help make business decisions.
Sir John did not respond to questions from Sky News regarding who these clients were.
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Westminster Accounts: Following the money
How to explore the database for yourself
It is a clear example where the companies paying to contract an MP’s services, and the company reported publicly in the Register of Interests – AlphaSights in this case – differ.
Sir John’s case is just one of many where these questions apply.
Defence minister Mr Mercer, for example, declared payments of £3,600 and £1,110 in 2021 for two speaking engagements from Chartwell Speakers, a speaker agency.
No details are given in the register as to who the clients acting through the agency were, as MPs are usually expected to report in these instances.
Beyond speeches and individual engagements, there is a wider group of 11 MPs who are on the books of communications or political consultancies who often don’t give details about the clients they work with.
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MPs’ second jobs – what are the rules?
International development minister Mr Mitchell, for example, had been working as an advisor to Montrose Associates until last October, when he returned to government as a minister.
Montrose Associates is a strategic consultancy which, according to its website, draws on “access to privileged networks of decision-makers” when advising its clients.
Mr Mitchell received more than £340,000 for around 75 days of work since taking up the role in 2013. Exactly which clients he worked with and what he did cannot be known from the cursory description of his work given in the Register of Interests.
This lack of transparency creates particular problems for holding ex-ministers to account. They often undertake new roles on the condition they refrain from lobbying government on behalf of clients of their employers.
Tracey Crouch, another former minister, received approval from ACOBA to become a senior advisor to communications firm The Playbook between February 2018 and March 2020. Her role was to advise some of The Playbook’s clients in the technology and energy sector.
But who these clients were has not been reported in the public record. This was despite ACOBA advising Ms Crouch she couldn’t lobby on behalf of The Playbook’s clients for two years after leaving government.
There is no suggestion Ms Crouch – or any other MP – has broken lobbying rules. But Steve Goodrich, head of research and investigations at Transparency International UK, has cast doubt on the systems designed to ensure politicians aren’t being unduly influenced.
“ACOBA is a paper tiger – it has no teeth, no ability to enforce the advice that it gives,” he said.
“And there’s a broader question about whether these omissions reflect a wider culture of opacity within parliament, at least among some members, that needs challenging. That’s more of a cultural issue, which may be harder to shift.”
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How you can explore the Westminster Accounts
There is also another group of MPs who have financial interests that may not be apparent from public disclosures.
Ten MPs have had employment with investment or private equity funds where there is a reasonable expectation they will be advising or making investment decisions about firms within the portfolios of these parent companies.
Yet the current rules – or the enforcement around them – put little onus on MPs to report these details.
David Davis, for example, the former Brexit secretary, sits on the advisory board of THI Holdings GmbH, an investment firm that declares holdings in seven companies on its website.
One of these companies is Oxford International Education Group – where Conservative MP Chris Skidmore sits on the advisory board. Were Mr Skidmore to speak in parliament on higher education issues, he would be expected to draw attention to his financial interest in this area.
But from what Mr Davis has disclosed, it is far more difficult to understand how ACOBA’s advice – which stated that Mr Davis should not lobby on behalf of THI’s subsidiaries in the two years after leaving government in 2019 – could be easily enforced.
Mr Davis is far from alone in working for one of these firms. Andrew Mitchell, Johnathan Djanogly, Richard Fuller, Bim Afolami, Alun Cairns and Stephen McPartland have all had positions with boutique investment firms in the past three years. There is no suggestion these MPs have broken any rules.
A spokesperson for Mr Mitchell told Sky News that all his outside business interests have always been properly registered in the normal way. Mr Mercer, Ms Crouch, and Mr Davis did not respond when asked for comment.
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‘We all welcome transparency’
MPs more likely to ask questions in parliament after taking up jobs in finance
Recent research from Dr Simon Weschle, author of Money In Politics, shows that MPs in certain types of second jobs behave differently.
He found that MPs were more likely to ask questions in parliament after taking up jobs in finance or the legal profession.
Dr Weschle said the lack of detail disclosed around these jobs makes it difficult to know if this amounts to lobbying, which would break the rules.
He said: “They could be asking more questions for a number of other reasons or for a reason directly relating to their work… but because we don’t know who they’re advising, who they have holdings in – who they’re ultimately working for – it’s really hard to make that connection.”
One reason MPs may not disclose further details is if doing so may conflict with professional practices.
Ten current MPs, for example, have worked as lawyers and accountants this parliament without naming their clients. Some may feel it inappropriate to disclose the firms or individuals contracting their services.
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, for instance, is one MP who has reported payments for giving legal advice with little detail offered as to the source of these funds. Sir Geoffrey Cox, who has earned more than £2m in legal fees this parliament, is another who provides details of the chambers who pay him, but rarely his clients.
Sky News understands there are no professional standards rules in the legal or accountancy profession that would stop MPs disclosing their clients, unless they expressly requested anonymity.
Some MPs involved in business consulting have told Sky News they have signed contracts that prevent them from naming clients publicly.
Yet if these obligations are sometimes the reason for a lack of disclosure, it calls into question the rules which at times seem to put MPs’ private interests above the transparency of the system. In some places, like the US, this problem has been solved by banning politicians from having second jobs.
Dr Weschle thinks there’s room for reform in the UK: “It seems to be that second jobs clearly undermine the public’s trust in politicians… so we should think about whether certain kinds of jobs should be more restricted, or whether MPs should be made to be more transparent about what they’re doing.”
Additional reporting: Ganesh Rao
Inflation unexpectedly fell to 2.5% in December, following two consecutive months of increases.
Today’s inflation rate is above the Bank of England’s 2% target but lower than the forecast of 2.6% by economists.
This means that prices are still rising but at a slower pace than before.
Read more:
Inflation falls slightly after two months of rises
But how does all of this affect the cost of groceries, clothing and leisure activities? Use our calculator to find out.
Which prices are increasing fastest?
Hair gel was the item with the largest price increase, with prices for 150-200ml rising by more than a third from £3.04 to £4.08.
The cost of olive oil also continues to rise. Prices for 500ml to one litre have risen from £7.40 to £9.11, an increase of 23%.
Olive oil has consistently had high price increases and experts have put that price rise down primarily to poor olive yields due to last year’s heatwaves in southern Europe.
However, they expect a significantly better harvest in the 2024-25 season, thanks to significant rainfall in Spain. The harvest could be double the size of last year’s, which may lead to lower prices in the coming months.
Food and drink products are responsible for seven of the 10 biggest increases since last year.
Top five price rises:
• Hair gel (150-200ml): up 34%, £3.04 to £4.08
• Olive oil (500ml-1litre): up 23%, £7.40 to £9.11
• Large chocolate bar: up 23%, £1.73 to £2.12
• White potatoes (per kg): up 20%, 74p to 89p
• Iceberg lettuce (each): up 20%, 82p to 98p
Overall, 45 of the 156 types of food and drink tracked by the ONS have actually become cheaper since last year.
Crumpet lovers have reason to celebrate. Prices for a pack of 6-9 crumpets have dropped by 9%, while another breakfast favourite, peanut butter, has seen an 8% drop.
Overall, 139 out of the 444 products in our database are cheaper than they were 12 months ago.
Top food price decreases:
• Pulses (390-420g): down 12%, 76p to 67p
• Crumpets (pack of 6-9): down 9%, £1.01 to 92p
• Peanut butter (225-350g): down 8%, £2.18 to £2.00
• Mayonnaise (390-500g / 420-540ml): down 7%, £2.20 to £2.04
• Canned tomatoes (390-400g): down 7%, 70p to 65p
Among non-supermarket items, kerosene has seen the largest price drop, falling by 17%.
What is the effect of long-term inflation?
The price changes described above compare the cost of items to where they were a year ago.
However, inflation has now been at high levels for an extended period of time.
The war in Ukraine, COVID, Brexit, and other supply chain pressures have all contributed to spiralling costs in recent years.
Inflation reached a 40-year high of 11.1% in October 2022.
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While the headline inflation figure has come down markedly, any amount of inflation means that prices are still rising, and building on already inflated costs.
We’ve compared the costs of shopping items with what they were three years ago to see what the cumulative impact of inflation has been.
The biggest price rise for groceries over that time has been for olive oil (500ml to one litre), which has increased nearly two-and-a-half times (150%), from £3.64 to £9.11 in the past three years.
Iceberg lettuce is up by four-fifths, with one costing 98p now compared with 54p in December 2021.
Use our calculator to see how much prices in your shopping basket have risen in total since three years ago.
Who is worst affected?
Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, says: “It’s the least affluent households that are going to see much higher rates of inflation as they spend more of their income on food and energy.”
We’ll continue to update our spending calculator over the coming months so you can see how you’ll be affected.
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Methodology
The ONS collects these prices by visiting thousands of shops across the country and noting down the prices of specific items. There are upwards of 100,000 prices published every month, from more than 600 products.
The items that form the “official shopping basket” change each year to reflect how the purchasing habits of the population have changed. For example in March 2021, after a year of the pandemic, hand gel, loungewear bottoms and dumbbells were added, while canteen-bought sandwiches were among the items removed.
Where there aren’t the exact equivalent items available at a survey shop, ONS officials pick the best alternative and note that they’ve done this so it’s weighted correctly when the averages are worked out.
Shops are weighted as well, so the price in a major chain supermarket will have a greater impact on the average than an independent corner shop.
We will be updating these figures each month while the cost of living crisis continues.
During the pandemic, more of the survey was carried out over the phone and work is ongoing to digitise the system to be able to take in more price points by getting data from supermarket receipts, rather than making personal visits.
Data journalists: Daniel Dunford, Amy Borrett, Ben van der Merwe, Joely Santa Cruz and Saywah Mahmood
Interactive: Ganesh Rao
Design: Phoebe Rowe, Brian Gillingham
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open-source information. Through multimedia storytelling, we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
There’s been a surprise fall in inflation to 2.5% after two months of rises, official figures show.
It means prices are still rising but at a slower pace than before, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data for December.
Economists had expected the figure to remain at 2.6%, the level recorded in November.
Inflation is still above the 2% target of interest rate setters at the Bank of England but exactly as they had forecast in November.
What does it mean for interest rates?
It means there is more chance of an interest rate cut when the Bank’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee meets in three weeks’ time.
Before the inflation announcement markets thought there was a 62% chance of a cut but following the release that rose to 83%.
Beyond the headline consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation are more figures that will be welcome news for the Bank and for Chancellor Rachel Reeves who has faced increasing pressure over her handling of the economy.
Two metrics closely watched by the Bank fell more than expected.
The persistently high services inflation, which is impacted by rising wages, fell from 5% a month before to 4.4%, far below the 4.9% forecast by economists.
Similarly core inflation – which tracks price rises without energy and food which can be volatile – dropped to 3.2% from 3.5% in November.
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Sky’s Kay Burley speaks with chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones about the latest inflation figures.
Inflation data takes on outsized significance in determining the likelihood of a rate cut as the ONS’s labour force data, which assesses the health of the jobs market, has by its own admission been unreliable.
Why has the inflation rate come down?
Inflation was slowed by restaurants and hotels putting up their prices by less than before. Tobacco prices also rose less than the same month a year earlier.
Acting to push up inflation was the growing cost of fuel and second-hand cars.
Much-needed good news
Wednesday’s data brings much-needed good news for the chancellor who has faced criticism over her handling of the economy after a week of market turmoil brought the pound down and government borrowing costs up.
Borrowing costs came down and the pound, which can measure investor confidence in the UK economy, was up to $1.22.
Responding to the data Ms Reeves said: “There is still work to be done to help families across the country with the cost of living. That’s why the government has taken action to protect working people’s payslips from higher taxes, frozen fuel duty and boosted the national minimum wage.”
Business
Chancellor Rachel Reeves accused of refusing to ‘face up to her own failures’ amid market turmoil
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been accused of refusing to “face up to her own failures” by “jetting off to Beijing” during a week of market turmoil.
Shadow chancellor Mel Stride accused the chancellor of ducking difficult questions as the “government was losing control of the economy” while Ms Reeves visited China over the past week with a delegation including the governor of the Bank of England and the heads of HSBC, Standard Chartered and Schroders.
On Monday, both long-term 30-year and 10-year government borrowing costs rose, with the 30-year effective interest rate (the gilt yield) reaching a new high of 5.47% – a rate not seen since mid-1998.
The pound also hit a 14-month low, prompting questions over the chancellor’s future.
Politics latest: Chancellor defends her records
She received a slight reprieve on Tuesday morning as the pound recovered some loss and ticked up slightly to $1.22, while government borrowing costs dipped slightly.
But the Conservatives used Ms Reeves’s absence over the past week to attack her, with Mr Stride telling the Commons: “While the government was losing control of the economy, where was the chancellor?
“Her trip to China had not even begun when my urgent question was taken in the House last week, she was still in the country, but she sent the chief secretary rather than face up to her own failures.
“So can I ask (Rachel Reeves) why she chose not to respond herself? The chancellor, of course, ducked the difficult questions by jetting off to Beijing.
“I believe that in Labour circles, they are calling it the Peking duck.”
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng with Rachel Reeves in Beijing during her visit. Pic: AP
But Ms Reeves dismissed the criticism and vowed to stick to the fiscal rules she set out in the October budget – to get day-to-day spending through tax receipts and get debt down as a share of the economy.
“We remain committed to those fiscal rules and we will meet them at all times,” she said.
She also defended her trip to China, saying engaging with countries around the world will “deliver growth”, and said she brought up human rights issues with China.
“Leadership is not about ducking these challenges, it is about rising to them,” she told the Commons.
“And the economic headwinds that we face are a reminder that we should, indeed we must go further and faster in our plan to kickstart economic growth that plunged under the last government.”
Read more:
UK and China selling new economic relationship as a win-win – but it’s complicated
Anti-corruption minister faces new investigation in Bangladesh
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Why is the UK economy in big trouble?
The chancellor said her trip to China has meant greater access to the Chinese market for British firms and helped safeguard the UK’s national security.
New agreements were made on vaccine approvals, fertiliser, whisky labelling, legal services, automotives and accountancy to “unlock £1bn of value for the UK economy”, she said.
Ms Reeves said she raised the case of imprisoned British citizen and media tycoon Jimmy Lai with every minister she met in China.
She said she also raised concerns about Russia’s war in Ukraine, human rights, restrictions on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong and the “completely unjustified sanctions against British parliamentarians”.
“A key outcome of this dialogue is that we have secured China’s commitment to improve existing channels so that we can openly discuss sensitive issues and the ways in which they impact our economy because if we do not engage with China, we cannot raise our real concerns,” she said.
“This dialogue is just one part of our engagement with trading partners right across the world.”
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