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Six firms which have signed a binding code agreeing not to employ legislators to conduct public affairs have members of the House of Lords on their books.
Each of the six is a member of the Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA), which has an industry code stating that “it is inappropriate for a person to be both a legislator and a public affairs practitioner” and that “Members [of the PRCA] must not employ any Member of Parliament [or] Member of the House of Lords… to conduct public affairs in any capacity.”
A joint investigation by Tortoise and BBC Radio 4’s The Naked Week has found that at least 11 peers are employed by these firms.
Among them is Lodestone, which lobbies for the spy tech firm Palantir and employs Lord (Tom) Watson as a member of its advisory council.
Watson is also a paid member of Palantir’s public services advisory board.
Edelman has four members of the House of Lords on its books. APCO Worldwide employs two peers, as does Teneo, while DGA Group and Shearwater each boast one.
There is no suggestion that any of the peers are engaged in public affairs, or that any parliamentary rules have been broken. But the findings follow calls for reform of the system after the public affairs firm Stonehaven backtracked on its appointment of the former transport and treasury minister Baroness Vere.
Last month Stonehaven’s founder, Peter Lynburn, said: “On reflection, we shouldn’t have offered a role” to the peer. “We can see it conflicts with a [PRCA] membership we want to continue for many years to come.”
As well as parting ways with Vere, Stonehaven rescinded a job offer to the former Welsh First Minister Lord (Carwyn) Jones.
Jones remains employed as “senior counsel” to the public affairs firm NorthPoint Strategy, which is not a member of the PRCA.
NorthPoint, which was set up and is run by the former Conservative minister and Tory peer Lord (James) Wharton, did not respond to requests for comment. Jones responded via email, saying: “I always follow the House of Lords code of conduct and it's part of my contract with NorthPoint."
Neither Lodestone nor Watson responded to requests for comment.
DGA, which employs Lord (Jim) McKnight, said it adhered to “all applicable rules and regulations, including those governing the conduct of members of the House of Lords”. Shearwater told us that Lord (Jo) Johnson’s position on its international advisory board had been approved by Acoba and the peer was “not engaged in UK public affairs”.
There are concerns about the perception of blurred lines, even so. “Despite parliamentary and trade association rules banning Lords from working in public affairs, there remain serious questions as to whether these are being followed,” Steve Goodrich of Transparency International UK said.
“Being a peer may well be a second job to most in the second chamber, but there are plenty of other roles out there they could do that don't give the impression they're using their privileged position for private gain.”
A spokesperson for the PRCA said: “We acknowledge concerns regarding the employment of Peers, and this is an area currently under review as part of our ongoing consultation on the Public Affairs Code. The Standards Committee is overseeing this review to ensure that the Code remains fit for purpose and aligned with the highest ethical standards.”
The second phase of this consultation is set to be launched on the 24th of March.
A spokesperson for the House of Lords said members of the chamber were banned from providing paid parliamentary advice or services, including lobbying ministers or civil servants: “The rules on registration of interests apply to members with financial interests in lobbying companies. Publication of these interests provides proper transparency.”
A spokesperson from Edelman said: “Members of Edelman’s Advisory Board do not advise clients, nor do public affairs work for the firm. The Advisory Board gives strategic business advice and provides external challenge to the UK management team. This is entirely within the PRCA rules.”
Teneo said it doesn’t employ peers who lobby or provide parliamentary advice to clients. APCO Worldwide did not respond to requests for comment.
This is the latest in a series of investigations by Tortoise and BBC Radio 4’s The Naked Week, which is hosted by Andrew Hunter Murray.
To hear the full investigation, listen to The Naked Week, produced for BBC Radio 4 by Unusual Productions, on air every Friday from 18.30 on BBC Radio 4 and then on BBC Sounds in the Friday Night Comedy podcast feed.
Use our Peer Review tool to see who is in the House of Lords, how they got there and the role they play in British democracy
Photo credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images
