John Whittingdale is under pressure over a potential breach of the ministerial code, after an openDemocracy investigation found that the recently-appointed culture minister and longtime BBC critic remained a paid director of a media company for more than a week – although his department claimed that he had tendered his resignation immediately.
Questions have also been raised about the “bizarre” timeline surrounding Whittingdale’s eventual resignation from the board of SWNS Media Group.
Politicians and transparency campaigners have labelled Whittingdale’s continued directorship with SWNS a “clear conflict of interest” for a minister. SWNS has paid the former culture secretary more than £30,000 since 2017 to advise the firm on “media policy” – which is now Whittingdale’s ministerial brief.
