The parliamentary standards commissioner said the ex-MP had showed a “blatant disregard for the rules”
Former Tory MP, Colonel Bob Stewart, has been stripped of his parliamentary pass after losing an appeal for failing to register his employment with two companies while he was an MP.
The former Army officer was employed by Ksantex, a defence firm registered in Luxembourg, between 2015 and 2017 and was paid more than £70,000 over that period, which he was found to have failed to declare.
In his initial defence, the former Beckenham MP said he had registered a role with a company he called VES Consultancy several years previously, which was part of the “same group of companies” as Ksantex.
Parliament’s standards commissioner found the registry for VES Consultancy was incorrect, and that the company in question was actually called Vnesh Expert Services.
They also found that Stewart did not register all his earnings from the role he undertook there.
Stewart declared that he was employed by VES Consultancy, but the panel determined this was incorrect, as the company’s actual name was Vnesh Expert Services.
In addition, he failed to declare all the earnings from his role at the company.
The ex-MP, who represented Beckenham from 2010 to May 2024, also failed to disclose a relevant interest, as he was employed by the defence company while serving on the Defence Select Committee.
Ex-MPs are usually entitled to a parliamentary pass after they stand down, as Stewart did at the 2024 general election.
After examining the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards’ findings, the committee said in December that “for a senior member to commit several breaches, spanning three codes of conduct and a period of 14 years, shows a blatant disregard for the rules”.
The Standards Committee also concluded that he had failed to “co-operate at all times” with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards’ investigation as required by the Code of Conduct. This resulted in delays in the investigation.
The panel concluded: “The retention of a pass giving access to the parliamentary estate following the end of a career as a Member of the House is a significant privilege.
“We have no doubt that members of the public, apprised of the serious and longstanding breaches of the codes by Colonel Stewart, would find it incomprehensible if a lesser sanction than the permanent removal of the pass had been imposed.”
In November 2023, Stewart was convicted for a racially aggravated offence, after telling an activist to “go back to Bahrain” in a row outside the Foreign Office in December 2022. However, in February 2024, the conviction was overturned by Southwark Crown Court.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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