As the Conservative party hurtled towards electoral defeat, Philip Davies MP appeared to be weighing up his next career move already.
On 20 June, the veteran backbencher incorporated a new company, Nessen Ltd, describing the nature of its business as “management consultancy” in a filing to Companies House.
The candidate and former honourable member for Shipley listed his own occupation as “consultant”.
Days later, Davies would insist he was still “busting a gut to win” his seat, despite admitting – amid the snowballing political betting scandal – that he had placed an £8,000 wager on himself to lose.
Fittingly, his new venture shared a partial name with a horse he once co-owned called Nessen Dorma, according to a racing publication.
But Davies, who did not return requests for comment, was far from the only Conservative MP hedging his bets.
At least a dozen Tory MPs set up their own management consultancies or public relations businesses in 2024, as they faced up to the prospect of life after politics, according to Guardian analysis.
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing or conflict of interest on the part of the MPs.
Rather, Companies House filings suggest that many were lining up what appeared to be new earning opportunities. Some did so as electoral defeat loomed, others after standing down and still more did so in the days immediately after Labour’s landslide victory.
Rishi Sunak called the election on 22 May, in the pouring rain outside Downing Street, announcing that the country would go to the polls in early July.
That same day, the former Conservative MP Julian Knight set up a new business, DWR174 Consulting Ltd.
Knight had been suspended from the party over allegations of sexual impropriety, which he denies, but went on to contest his Solihull constituency as an independent candidate. He did not respond to requests for comment.
Some MPs had already incorporated new businesses in the months before the election, which was called early but had to be held by January 2025 at the latest.
Marcus Fysh, who would declare the Conservative party “dead” in the aftermath of the vote, appeared to be preparing for life after politics in March, when he incorporated an “information technology consultancy”.
Fysh said the company was set up to “handle some of the investments I have been making in artificial intelligence and software engineering”.
The former Conservative MP William Wragg, who was embroiled in a honeytrap sexting scam earlier this year, had incorporated a management consultancy called Hammerbrace Ltd three months before that, in partnership with colleague Charles Walker.
Days after it emerged that Wragg had given out MPs’ numbers to someone who apparently extorted him after they met on a dating app, Wragg applied to strike Hammerbrace from the corporate register. The plan to set up a consultancy appeared to have hit the buffers. Wragg did not return a request for comment.
The details of MPs’ plans for work outside politics have emerged as the new Labour government prepares to put forward legislation to tighten up the rules on what work members of the House of Commons can perform other than public service.
The proposals, which were approved by the Commons on Thursday last week, would prevent MPs from taking on second jobs that fail to meet a new test of putting constituents first.
Former ministers and senior civil servants receive advice on appointments they wish to take up within two years on leaving government by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba). The independent body scrutinises any potential conflict of interest, recent access to privileged information, or opportunity to lobby the government.
The former defence secretary Ben Wallace set up Glenfiddich Consulting on 8 April this year, after announcing his intention to stand down. He told the Guardian that the company was set up to receive payment for freelance work, such as speaking engagements about geopolitics.
He was one of several MPs who incorporated new companies after announcing their departure from politics but while still serving their constituents, according to Companies House filings, with April proving a busy month.
Alok Sharma, the former business secretary who also chaired the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, set up the Office of Alok Sharma in March of this year. He did not return a request for comment.
Management consultancies were by far the most common choice of new venture for MPs who had announced their intention to stand down. Stephen Hammond, Will Quince and Mark Pawsey set up Vineyard Consultants, Will Quince Ltd and MP Strategic Consulting respectively in April. They did not return requests for comment. Two days before the election, Andrew Percy set up Kitsilano Consulting Ltd. He declined to comment.
Several MPs who did contest the 4 July vote busied themselves with new business ventures in the days immediately after losing their seats. Amanda Solloway set up Amanda Solloway Ltd, Mark Jenkinson incorporated Redghyll Ltd and Anthony Browne started Grand Strategy Ltd, all within two weeks of the result.
Browne, a former chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association, said he planned to return to regulatory affairs. “I had made no plans for life after the election for the simple reason that until election day I thought I was going to win. I have set up a company as I plan to hire and employ people as part of a hopefully thriving business,” he added.
Khalid Mahmood, the only Labour MP to appear on the list, set up KN Strategic Solutions on 17 July. He told the Guardian the company was set up to receive fees earned as a senior fellow of the thinktank Policy Exchange.
Incorporating a company is a legal and common way to receive fees as a freelancer in a way that legitimately minimises taxes on earnings.
• This article was amended on 30 July 2024. Acoba advises only former ministers and senior civil servants on roles they wish to take up on leaving government, not MPs generally as an earlier version said. Also on 20 June Philip Davies was the candidate and former member for Shipley, not the “then honourable member” for the constituency.
