Are crown representatives the next ‘lobbying timebomb’?
Links between private business and government officials come under increasing scrutiny
More than 20 powerful figures in the world of business hold the same role that allowed Lex Greensill privileged access to senior government ministers, it has emerged.
Greensill, the Australian supply-chain financier, was given special access to the heart of government through his role as a “crown representative”, a scheme set up by David Cameron’s government in 2011.
However, with the fallout from the Greensill Capital lobbying scandal continuing to emerge, the role of the previously little-known crown representatives has given rise to fears that they could be at the heart of the next “lobbying timebomb”, the Daily Mail reports.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Who are they?
Crown representatives are “leading figures from the private sector” who were “brought into the heart of government to offer their expertise in getting value for money for taxpayers” on government projects, the Mail reports.
The often part-time roles were introduced in 2011 as part of a “new approach for how government engages with its key strategic suppliers”, according to the government’s website. Crown representatives work within the Cabinet Office and take the lead on relationships with large suppliers across the government, the site adds, acting as a “single point of contact” for companies looking to work with the public sector.
As part of the role, which is unpaid, crown representatives have access to senior politicians and government officials, as well as attending key meetings and briefings. Their status is “almost that of a civil servant”, the Mail says, yet unlike civil servants they are still able to “carry on making a fortune in private industry” while holding the role.
There are 22 crown representatives currently working for the government. They include: Boris Adlam, of investment firm Faster Capital; Luc Bardin, an adviser to motoring giant Toyota; Jay Chinnadorai, who runs technology company Sumtotal; and Meryl Bushell, a former BT executive.
While there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the current crop of crown representatives, the emergence of 22 little-known figures who are granted “a dual public-private role” has added to “concerns of a blurring of the line between Whitehall and the commercial world”, the paper adds.
Greensill 2.0?
Links between ministers, government officials and private firms have come under increasing scrutiny following further revelations in the Greensill lobbying scandal.
A string of senior civil servants worked for the now-collapsed financial firm Greensill while also working in Whitehall. They include the government’s chief commercial officer, Bill Crothers, who joined Greensill while remaining a part-time civil servant in a move sanctioned by the Cabinet Office.
A second civil servant, David Brierwood, was recruited to join the Greensill board as a director two months after being appointed as a Cabinet Office adviser to Cameron’s government in 2014, The Guardian reports. He held both roles for three and a half years, “raising further questions over revolving doors between the government and the scandal-hit firm”, says the paper.
The former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Lord Hogan-Howe, was also “a paid adviser to the collapsed lender at the centre of a lobbying scandal” while at the same time “working at the heart of Whitehall”, The Telegraph says.
Lord Hogan-Howe, who retired from the Met Police in 2017, became a non-executive director of the Cabinet Office in May 2020, says the paper. At the same time he revealed his role as a consultant to a subsidiary of Greensill.
The role means he was on “the board overseeing officials” while they “invited bids for a four-year, £80m contract” to provide the pubic sector with the financing Greensill specialised in, the paper adds.
Cabinet Secretary Simon Case has warned that allowing senior officials to have private-sector second jobs could threaten the “integrity and impartiality” of Whitehall. And Nick Davies, programme director at the Institute for Government, told The Guardian that the revelation about Brierwood had raised further questions about the inadequacy of impartiality rules at the heart of government.
“Crown representatives play an important role managing the relationship between government and key suppliers,” Davies said. “Whether or not individuals breached the rules, Greensill clearly thought it would benefit from hiring a network of people with senior positions in the Cabinet Office.
“The inadequacy of current rules means that we can’t be sure whether government decisions have been shaped through private channels by those with a financial interest in the outcome,” Davies added.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.
-
Nigeria's worsening rate of maternal mortality
Under the radar Economic crisis is making hospitals unaffordable, with women increasingly not receiving the care they need
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Elevating Earth Day into a national holiday is not radical — it's practical'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
UAW scores historic win in South at VW plant
Speed Read Volkswagen workers in Tennessee have voted to join the United Auto Workers union
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Is there a peaceful way forward for Israel and Iran?
Today's Big Question Tehran has initially sought to downplay the latest Israeli missile strike on its territory
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?
Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Is the next cold war a drone-swarm race between US and China?
Today's Big Question Both global superpowers are building up their capacity for surging robotic warfare. What happens next is anyone's guess.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How powerful is Iran?
Today's big question Islamic republic is facing domestic dissent and 'economic peril' but has a vast military, dangerous allies and a nuclear threat
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why are Republicans trying to change Nebraska's Electoral College vote?
Today's Big Question It's a chance for Donald Trump to block Joe Biden's path to re-election
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is it time to end arms sales to Israel?
Today's Big Question Democrats urge restrictions following World Kitchen convoy deaths
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is David Cameron overshadowing Rishi Sunak?
Talking Point Current PM faces 'thorny dilemma' as predecessor enjoys return to world stage
By The Week UK Published
-
Have we entered the age of AI warfare?
Today's Big Question Israeli military used AI to create 'kill lists' of suspected Hamas militants, say local media
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published