Stephen Gethins

This article is part of the Revolving Door project of Spinwatch.

This article is part of the Lobbying Portal, a sunlight project from Spinwatch.

Stephen Gethins is a former special adviser to Scotland's First Minister on European and international affairs as well as on energy, climate change and rural affairs.

Gethins ran as a candidate for the 2014 European elections.

In the May 2015 general election, Gethins stood for the Scottish National Party for the seat of North East Fife. He defeated his closest rival Tim Brett with a majority of 4,344 and therefore became MP for the constituency with 41 per cent of the vote.

Activities

Gethins left the Crown Service in December 2012 after four years as a special adviser. He informed the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) that he intended to work as an independent consultant 'to give strategic advice on politics and public affairs to companies and not-for-profit organisations'. The Committee gave its approval in May 2013, stating that:

When considering this application, the Committee took into account that Mr Gethins had not had any direct contractual dealings and had not been responsible for people who have had contractual dealings with any of his prospective employers during his last two years of service. The Committee noted that he had not had access to any commercially sensitive information about any of his prospective employers’ competitors, nor had he been involved in contracts or the award of grants that could have affected his prospective employers or any competitors. The Committee also took into account that Mr Gethins left Crown service over four months earlier and that any knowledge that he acquired whilst in service was unlikely to confer any particular advantage on his prospective employers.

Geth reported to ACOBA that he had taken up commissions from June 2013 with:

• Greenhaus Communications
• RSPB
• 2020 Renewables

The Permanent Secretary accepted ACOBA's advice that Gethin's application be approved subject to the conditions that:

Mr Gethins should not draw on privileged information available to him as a Special Adviser;

for two years from his last day of service Mr Gethins should not become personally involved in lobbying the Scottish Government or UK Government (on non-devolved matters) on behalf of his new employers, their parent companies or their clients;

for six months from his last day of service Mr Gethins should submit a fresh application for any commission he wishes to accept with companies or organisations in policy areas within his remit in the Scottish Government; and

for two years from his last day of service, Mr Gethins must seek confirmation from the Committee directly that each individual commission is permissible under the terms of his consultancy before taking it up. If, after enquiry, the Committee takes the view that a commission is, or may be, outside the terms of the consultancy he will be expected to submit a fresh application.

Affiliations

• Gethins served on the National Executive Committees of Young Scots for Independence and the Federation of Student Nationalists.

Contact

Twitter: @StephenGethins

Website: www.stephengethins.eu/‎