Mark Pritchard
Mark Pritchard has been the Conservative MP for The Wrekin since 2005 [1]and is a former secretary of the influential 1922 Committee.
Controversies and conflicts of interest
In early November 2013 an investigation by The Telegraph revealed that Pritchard had 'offered to use his political contacts to set up business deals with foreign officials and ministers in return for being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds'. Pritchard did not offer to lobby British politicians or ask questions in Parliament, however the newspaper revealed that he had,
- told an undercover reporter that he could use his “network” to set up meetings with politicians in countries where he had parliamentary connections.
- Mr Pritchard sits on official parliamentary groups for many of those countries where, in return for payment, he was offering to broker investments and to arrange meetings with senior government figures. Parliamentary rules ban MPs from seeking to profit from their positions and warns politicians to avoid any potential conflict of interest.
- Mr Pritchard also stands accused of using a Nato parliamentary assembly to discuss business opportunities with contacts. [2]
Pritchard reportedly asked to be paid £3,000 a month for consultancy services advising on business deals in Albania, as well as 3% of the deal. He is a member of the All-party parliamentary group for Albania, which exists to 'help bilateral relations and improve parliamentary relations' between the UK and Albania.
Pritchard has denied the Telegraph's allegations. <ref> MP Mark Pritchard denies Albania business claims, BBC News, 5 November 2013 Last updated at 22:22 GMT
Affiliations
- 1922 Committee - member
- Global Vision
- Henry Jackson Society: Project for Democratic Geopolitics
- Slimming World All-Party Parliamentary Group
- All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group
- All-Party Parliamentary Group for Albania
- Mark Pritchard Advisory Limited - registered with UK's House of Commons in September 2013
External resources
Claire Newell, Holly Watt and Ben Bryant, Senior Conservative MP uses political contacts to further business empire, The Telegraph, 05 Nov 2013 10:06PM GMT
Notes
- ↑ Mark Pritchard, www.parliament.uk, accessed 11 November 2012.
- ↑ Claire Newell, Holly Watt and Ben Bryant, Senior Conservative MP uses political contacts to further business empire, The Telegraph, 05 Nov 2013 10:06PM GMT, accessed same day
