Watchdog calls for reform after Boris Johnson breaches code over new Mail job

Boris Johnson committed an "unambiguous breach" of the ministerial code by not clearing his job as a Daily Mail columnist and reforms of the code are needed, the government has been told.

Emails sent to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) show the ex-PM informed them of his new job 30 minutes before it went public.

Lord Pickles, chairman of Acoba, said the current rules relied too much on people being "good chaps".

Acoba wants power to punish breaches.

The committee vets the jobs of former ministers.

In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, Lord Pickles said current rules were "designed to offer guidance when 'good chaps' could be relied on to observe the letter and the spirit of the rules".

"If it ever existed, that time has long passed and the contemporary world has outgrown the rules,," he said.

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Despite resigning as an MP, Mr Johnson is still required to seek advice from Acoba on new jobs for two years after leaving ministerial office. He stepped down as prime minister last September.

Lord Pickles said Mr Johnson's conduct was "a clear and unambiguous breach of the government's rules and requirements of the Ministerial Code."

"Mr Johnson is familiar with both," he added.

Lord Pickles said it was "a matter for the government" to decide what, if any punishment, Mr Johnson should receive.

"I suggest that you take into consideration the low-risk nature of the appointment itself, and the need to reform the system to deal with roles in proportion to the risks posed," Lord Pickles said.

A spokesman for the former prime minister previously said Mr Johnson had been in touch with Acoba "and the normal process is being followed".

Acoba exists to ensure there is "no cause for any suspicion of impropriety" when a former minister or senior official takes up a new job.

The committee has no powers to enforce its recommendations or to punish MPs - or former MPs - who have broken the rules, but it can issue public rebukes.

The Daily Mail announced an unnamed "erudite new columnist" on its front page the day Mr Johnson applied to Acoba to ask for advice on taking the job

Mr Johnson has declared millions of pounds in earnings outside Parliament since leaving No 10 last September, most of it from making speeches.

In February, the total was nearing £5m.

Now that he has stood down as an MP, he will not have to declare his earnings in the register of members' interests.

The committee previously found Mr Johnson broke the rules by taking up a £275,000 a year column with the Telegraph weeks after standing down as foreign secretary.

It said it was "unacceptable" Mr Johnson had not sought its advice before signing the contract.

His Telegraph column became an important platform for his opposition to then-Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plans, and for building support for his own leadership ambitions. He stopped writing it when he entered Downing Street in July 2019.

His new role with the Mail could give him the chance to take public pot shots at Rishi Sunak, with whom he has recently clashed over his resignation honours list.