The enforced resignation of Owen Paterson in November certainly had its consequences. Boris Johnson’s efforts to help the North Shropshire MP triggered a sleaze scandal, a Labour lead that the party is still yet to relinquish and the loss of a constituency which had been Tory for more than a century. But, two months on, how hard are the winds of change blowing through the corridors of Whitehall?
Paterson’s departure was triggered by declarations surrounding paid work consulting for Randox Chemicals. In the aftermath, a number of Tory backbenchers quit their second jobs, but not all those in this world appear to be following suit. For the release last week of updated transparency records show paid consultants are still working at the heart of government.
Take, for instance, the Foreign Office where at least two of the seven members of the department’s Supervisory Board work for lobbying firms.
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