A North Yorkshire MP and chairman of the Conservative Party is under investigation over an alleged breach of Parliament’s code of conduct.
Kevin Hollinrake, the MP for Thirsk and Malton, is being investigated for allegedly lobbying the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards over the independent officer’s decision-making.
An inquiry does not mean that rules have been broken.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a spokesperson for Mr Hollinrake said the MP was “fully complying with the investigation”.
The alleged breach relates to Rule 14 of the Code of Conduct for Members of the House, which states that “Members must not lobby the Commissioner in a manner calculated or intended to influence his consideration of whether a breach of the Code of Conduct has occurred, or in relation to the imposition of a sanction”.
The fact that an inquiry is taking place does not mean that the rules have been broken and once the commissioner has investigated the matter, the findings will be published on the House of Commons website.
The investigation was opened on Thursday, 11 June, and the LDRS understands that the investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is approaching its conclusion.
Mr Hollinrake has served as MP for Thirsk and Malton since 2015 and was appointed Conservative Party Chairman last summer.
As chairman of the Conservative Party, Mr Hollinrake referred Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage to the same commissioner over an alleged “failure to register an interest” in relation to a £5 million gift that was given to Mr Farage before he was elected MP for Clacton.
An inquiry by the commissioner was subsequently launched in May. However, the investigation was suspended this week following Mr Farage’s resignation from the House of Commons.
After saying he had “done no wrong”, Mr Farage announced he would resign as Clacton MP and run again to allow his constituents to “be the judges of his actions”.
If re-elected as MP for Clacton, the investigation would likely resume.
Daniel Greenberg is the current Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, an independent officer of the House of Commons responsible for monitoring the operation of its Code of Conduct and Registers, including investigating alleged breaches.
