A Conservative peer and lobbyist announced he is to quit the Lords and the party today after he was censured for his role in obtaining a PPE deal for a firm he worked for during the Covid pandemic.
Lord Chadlington, 83, said he will retire after a report recommended he should be suspended from the upper chamber for 12 months after breaching the code of conduct.
The House of Lords Commissioner for Standards found the peer breached the code of conduct over his role in assisting a subsidiary of a company called SGHL, of which he was non-executive chairman and a shareholder, to secure PPE contracts worth tens of millions of pounds.
The Lords Conduct Committee rejected an appeal from the peer and recommended he should be suspended for a year.
In response, Lord Chadlington said: ‘I wholly reject the findings of this appeal and of the commissioner, published today.’
He said: ‘Although the committee have acknowledged that I did not act dishonestly, it is important that I make clear that I never profited from an introduction, properly made with honourable intent, at a time of unprecedented national crisis.
‘Any errors that I did make were honest. I have apologised for them and I do so again today.
‘For more than three years, since reaching 80, I have discussed retiring with House officials but did not wish to do so while these investigations were ongoing.
‘I have now decided, having proudly served as a peer for 30 years, that the time is right for me to retire and resign my membership of the Conservative Party.’
Lord Chadlington, 83, (pictured above left in 2019) said he will retire after a report recommended he should be suspended from the upper chamber for 12 months
Lord Chadlington, born Peter Gummer, is the brother of former Conservative minister and chairman John Gummer, now Lord Deben.
He was a close adviser to John Major when he was prime minister and was ennobled in 1996. Records show he has not spoken in the House since 2019.
This is the third investigation into his conduct during the Covid pandemic and was brought about after a complaint by the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice in March last year, following evidence to the Covid Inquiry.
The inquiry revealed Lord Chadlington connected David Sumner, the CEO of Sumner Group Holdings Ltd (SGHL), with Lord Feldman of Elstree, who was involved with the Covid ‘fast lane’ to get equipment into the hands of the NHS quickly.
In April 2020 he sent a message to both men saying: ‘David. This is my friend Andrew Feldman. He can help you with PPE we discussed this morning. Drop me off chain. Peter.’
He also contacted Matt Hancock, the then health secretary ‘to obtain for Mr Sumner the personal contact details of another adviser to DHSC on PPE procurement’.
At the time the peer was the chairman of SGHL.
He challenged the report of the Commissioner saying it was ‘contrary to case law, natural justice and fair process’, contained ‘insufficient evidence’ that he had broken the rules and recommended a ‘wholly disproportionate’ punishment.
