League apart
Dan Norris
, Issue 1638
Forced to defend himself on the BBC's Politics West after a freedom of information request suggesting payoffs were used to hush up explosive allegations, Norris then accused former Tory minister Simon Hoare of being politically motivated when he put the authority into special measures on the advice of civil servants. It's never Norris's fault. Could things get worse for the North East Somerset and Hanham MP? Yes!
Cruel twist
Norris's third, unpaid, job is chairing the League Against Cruel Sports. To lessen his workload, Norris, 64, who is paid £91,346 as an MP and £93,579.96 for being mayor, used his mayoral special adviser Alex Mayer to run his League work.
In a League document seen by the Eye, trustee Astrid Clifford confirmed that "Ms Meyer [sic] was copied into email communications and privy to some information regarding the League, some of which could be considered confidential, whilst working as a special adviser to Mr Norris".
In addition, League acting CEO Chris Luffingham was asked to add Mayer to the circulation list for board papers.
Mayer culpa
Mayer – who in July was herself elected MP for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard – was also in on everything that went through the League's key finance, risk and general committee.
Her charity work was not declared to the parliamentary authorities, as it should have been because she was simultaneously working as chief of staff to Cambridge MP Daniel Zeichner, raising further possible conflicts of interest by being involved in a countryside charity while working for an MP in the shadow Defra team.
Perhaps disentangling herself from these multiple roles explains why, more than four months after the election, Mayer has still not got round to holding any surgeries for constituents.
Next issue on sale: 19th December 2024
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