Ex-PM David Cameron cleared by lobbying watchdog

Former Prime Minister David Cameron has been cleared by a watchdog looking at whether he engaged in lobbying for which he should have been registered.

The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists investigated after reports he had contacted officials on behalf of financial firm Greensill Capital.

It concluded that Mr Cameron's activities had not fallen within the criteria that required registration.

The contact is said to have taken place after Mr Cameron was prime minister.

On Wednesday, a source close to him said he was exempt from the register as he had been an in-house employee for Greensill.

The company, which collapsed earlier this month, was a key backer of UK giant Liberty Steel.

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Last week, Labour called for an investigation into claims Mr Cameron had met Treasury officials to lobby on behalf of Greensill, a role he took up after leaving the job of prime minister.

The Financial Times reported that Mr Cameron had tried to increase the specialist bank's access to government-backed Covid-19 emergency loan schemes.

The Treasury said it had had a meeting but decided not to take things further.

The office which runs the lobbying register was set up following the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014, when Mr Cameron was prime minister.