July 9 () –
More than 50 British deputies have secret shares in major companies that could pose a conflict of interest despite the fact that they usually do not imply a breach of the regulations on publicity of personal assets of the House of Commons, according to an investigation published by ‘The Guardian’.
Among the deputies mentioned are the former British Prime Minister Theresa May, the president of the Environment Committee of the House of Commons, Robert Goodwill, or the former Minister of Education Gavin Williamson, who have personally through very close people, such as their partners, shares in banks, construction companies, companies in the military industry, electricity or supermarkets.
The parliamentary regulations in force since 2015 oblige deputies to declare the shares they have in companies in which they represent more than 15 percent of the property or when their value exceeds 70,000 pounds (82,100 euros) in a company, a bar that is too low for organizations that defend transparency. The figure is far from the minimum set in countries like the United States, where it is at $1,000.
In addition, parliamentary regulations require declaring actions that may reasonably imply a conflict of interest, although it is left to the discretion of the deputy himself.
“If a deputy has shares in a company affected by the legislation that is being processed in Parliament, a tension is inevitable between the protection of their personal affairs and defending the public good. Having these details openly is key to avoiding an abuse of public office “, has argued the research director of Transparency International UK, Steve Goodrich, who warns that this conflict affects fundamental laws on housing, climate change or the high cost of living.
Other names that appear are those of Conservative MP Desmond Swayne; the Labor spokesperson on Finance, Seema Malhotra, or the spokesman for the Scottish National Party, Brendan O’Hara, whose shares are below the limit of 70,000 pounds.
The investigation reveals that the current British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, held shares in the National Electric Grid up to two days before he was chosen as the Conservative Party candidate for his constituency. Sunak has explained that it is a trust that controls his investments since July 2019.
Theresa May held shares in the oil company BP when she was Home Secretary and her husband held shares in BP, Barclays, BT and Centrica. Four months after she was appointed prime minister these shares were controlled by a trust, but earlier, when she was still home minister, she met with BT representatives when her husband still had undisclosed shares in the company.
“Theresa May rejects any suggestion that she has breached parliamentary regulations or the ministerial code because of her husband’s economic interests in BT,” said a spokesman for May, who recalled that laws were passed during her tenure that did not favor BT.
The article in ‘The Guardian’ is the result of six months of investigation and numerous procedures with the records to obtain the raw data, which is not always easy.
“It’s very worrying that it’s so hard to find out who owns shares in publicly traded companies in this country that it effectively makes them secret,” said Spotlight on Corruption executive director Susan Hawley.
