Rishi Sunak has invited a backbench MP to frequent meetings in Number 10 without giving him a formal role, allowing him to bypass rules on second jobs and potentially inviting conflicts of interest.
So what? If rules matter, this matters. Julian Smith is a former chief whip and Northern Ireland Secretary variously described by colleagues as “a snake”, a puller of strings in the style of Cardinal Richelieu and “a nasty piece of work”. Several sources say he’s been attending regular meetings in Downing Street, giving him access to privileged information that even those on the PM’s staff don’t have.
On becoming prime minister, Sunak claimed he would lead a government of “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level”. The promise was central to his strategy for restoring faith in the Conservatives after the moral carnage of the Johnson years. Critics say Smith’s unacknowledged status is more evidence Sunak is failing.
In particular, they note that
- Sunak may be in breach of the ministerial code if he is passing information outside of government;
- Smith is able to circumvent rules on business appointments for ex-politicians; and
- whatever Smith is doing, there aren’t enough women in Sunak’s inner circle.
The first of these concerns is especially potent. Two former ministers said if Smith is privy to information intended only for members of the government, then Sunak could be guilty of the sin that led to Suella Braverman being forced out of Liz Truss’s government last year.
“[Smith] is a privy councillor. But it’s still inappropriate,” one said. Another noted the meetings were unminuted, meaning there is no record of what is discussed.
Those concerns in detail:
- As a backbench MP, Smith is allowed to hold second jobs, but the fact he has no formal role in Number 10 means the public cannot establish who he is meeting or what information he has access to.
- Former ministers are meant to seek approval from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments before taking any appointments or employment for two years after leaving office. By not having a formal role, Smith will not have to seek approval.
- Suella Braverman was forced to resign as Home Secretary for passing government documents to her backbench colleague John Hayes. Sunak’s interactions with Smith could fall into the same category.
According to Tortoise’s Westminster Accounts database, Smith has declared earnings, donations and gifts worth more than £160,000 since the December 2019 election. His top earnings sources are Hygen Energy (£87,900), MJM Marine (£39,350) and Simply Blue Management (£20,580). According to the register of interests, Smith doesn’t currently have a second job.
And there’s more…
- Smith is said to have been “schooled” by another former chief whip, Gavin Williamson, who was forced to resign last year after Tortoise revealed last year was the subject of a formal complaint about his behaviour. The two are practitioners of Westminster’s “dark arts”, including hostile briefings against political enemies.
- Smith’s behaviour has upset MPs and officials. One Tory source said he was “very Gavin/aggressive in nature”. Others called him “the other half of the gruesome twosome” and Sunak’s “fixer”.
Case closed. According to two sources, Smith attends the Number 10 morning meeting with the rest of Sunak’s “quad”, which includes his parliamentary private secretary, Craig Williams, his chief of staff, Liam Booth-Smith, and his deputy, Rupert Yorke. Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary, has been frozen out, as reported by the Sunday Times this week.
Smith declined to comment when asked when he was last in Number 10 but said he had no role and had not been offered a job there. Downing Street said: “Julian Smith has no role at Number 10.”
Bottom line. Despite making headway in the polls, Sunak has suffered the loss of three ministers in six months and acquired a reputation for blind spots on subjects he thinks don’t matter but others do. If he has breached the ministerial code, his claim to be leading the government to higher standards than Johnson’s will take another pounding.
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