Political

Conservative MP found guilty of breaking rules over his business interests

The Conservative MP for Yeovil, Marcus Fysh, has been found to made multiple breaches of Parliamentary rules over his business interests. He’s also been criticised by a cross-party panel of MPs for his failure to cooperate properly with the inquiry.

The House of Commons Committee on Standards found that:

MPs are required to register interests in accordance with their Code of Conduct and the Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members. They must record any change to their registrable interests within 28 days.

The Commissioner found that Mr Fysh acted in breach of paragraph 14 of the Code of Conduct in three respects. She found that:

  • A registration of changes to London Wessex Ltd, Wessex Investments Proprietary Ltd and London Wessex Brands Ltd, in which Mr Fysh had registered shares, was not made within the 28 days required (the changes were registered 234, 148 and 140 days late respectively);
  • Mr Fysh did not register his unpaid directorships of these three companies and of two others in the Wessex Investment Proprietary Group, which later became Samfire Proprietary Ltd; and
  • Mr Fysh failed to declare his and his brother’s unpaid directorships to the two select committees when he joined them.

The cross-party group of MPs also:

notes that Mr Fysh adopted a deprecatory and, at points, patronising tone towards the Commissioner and the Registrar which was unacceptable, as were his unfounded questions about their objectivity. The Committee also notes that there were unnecessary delays to the Commissioner’s inquiry, which began nearly two years ago, because Mr Fysh did not respond to requests in a timely manner. It concludes that this does not represent the “full cooperation” that is expected of Members in the Commissioner’s investigations.

Marcus Fysh will now be required to make an apology in person in Parliament.

 

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7 responses to “Conservative MP found guilty of breaking rules over his business interests”

  1. Does this imply that the Tory MPs show contempt to the responsibilities of the position of MP? They consider themselves above the rules! Equally the procedure for sorting out these problems seem to be rather slow.
    On another issue Layla and other Leader competitors have set out their policies for leadership election. Whoever wins I trust will get the activists, social media to test with the VOTER the efficacy of their policies.
    In the days of Maggie Clay (who ran the Liberal councillors office in Hebden Bridge 1970s policies were tested on the door step AND in work situations. It ended up with her becoming the 1st Liberal councillor in Leeds for Decades. Explaining policies on the doorstep and asing what voters wanted paid off.

  2. Tories are brought up to believe they are better than others and, because of that they naturally know better, so they make rules for the lower classes who don’t have the wit to self-regulate. But of course those rules are for others….

  3. This is another sorry situation; several MP’s – from Boris Johnson down through the ranks – have shown themselves either to be negligent of or dismissive of the rules regarding declaration of interests. It is vital for the stability of government generally (whether it is the Conservative Party or another) that the public have trust in these people. There is much suspicion and cynicism already about the reasons for people running for Office: pure ideals are not generally believed to be the motivation – “noses in the trough” is many people’s first reaction to hints of inappropriate behaviour; the Expenses scandal reinforced this view and MP’s must realize that they are rebuked for a good reason – maintaining visible integrity as leaders, as people in a position of trust. Their career ambitions and financial aspirations must not over-ride their duty to serve in a morally acceptable way.

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