Owen Paterson was far from alone in taking money from private companies while working as an MP. Find out how much your elected representative has declared in the register of members’ interests since the last election
In compliance with the House of Commons code of conduct, MPs are required to register a range of financial interests they may have which are relevant to their parliamentary work. These include outside jobs, consultancy work, gifts or membership of organisations that may affect their position as members of parliament. The declarations are listed in the register of members’ interests, which is usually published annually with each new parliamentary session.
It is worth keeping in mind that MPs are responsible for deciding what they think is relevant to include. For example, Boris Johnson explicitly said he would not include a free luxury holiday at a villa in Marbella owned by the Goldsmith family, which he says he has declared on a separate ministerial register.
Similarly, Owen Paterson had dutifully declared all his consultancy earnings but still fell foul of the regulator because she judged he engaged in lobbying for companies he worked for.
