TWO Tory MPs – a deputy chair of the party and a former minister – have been placed under investigation by Westminster’s standards watchdog.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, has launched probes into both Conor Burns, the MP for Bournemouth West, and Jonathan Gullis, who represents Stoke-on-Trent North.
Burns, who served in the governments led by both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, is being probed under paragraph seven of the MPs’ code of conduct.
This states: “Members must only use information which they have received in confidence in the course of their parliamentary activities in connection with those activities, and never for other purposes.”
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Burns was knighted in Johnson's resignation honours list, and was sacked by Truss after a "complaint of serious misconduct" was made against him following the Conservative Party's conference.
Gullis, who is one of the Conservative Party’s deputy chairs, is being probed under paragraph 10 of the MPs’ code of conduct.
This states: “A Member who is the Chair and Registered Contact of an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) must ensure that the Group and any secretariat observe the rules set down for such Groups.”
Details of the probes are kept secret while they are ongoing, but the watchdog’s website states that Gullis is being investigated in connection with the “registration of interests received by the APPG for Defibrillators”.
Gullis won his seat from Labour in the fall of the "red wall" in 2019 and is widely expected to lose it in the next General Election.
Two other MPs are also currently under investigation by the standards watchdog: former Conservatives turned independents Andrew Bridgen and Bob Stewart.
In March, the commissioner found Michael Gove had breached Commons rules.
Gove issued an apology after failing to register VIP hospitality he enjoyed at three football matches between 2020 and 2022.
Reports said that Gove had been hosted by Conservative donor David Meller, whose firm he had referred to officials after an offer of help providing personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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