Boris Johnson did not seek permission from the post-ministerial jobs watchdog before taking a role as a consultant to a hedge fund, on whose behalf he met the Venezuelan president.
As a former minister, Johnson is required to seek the advice of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) for two years from September 2022, when he left office. The committee’s advice typically comes with restrictions on lobbying and contact with the UK government. It was writing to Johnson on the matter, a source said.
The former prime minister has not sought the committee’s advice for his paid role with Merlyn Advisors, a London-based hedge fund, the Guardian understands.
Details of Johnson’s role as a consultant to the company were first reported by the Sunday Times. A source close to Johnson said the rules had not been broken, and suggested no work had been undertaken that would require an application to Acoba.
Advice from Acoba could have impeded the support Johnson received from British diplomats for his discussions with Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, in early February. The hedge fund’s co-founder is seeking to improve relations between Venezuela and western countries including the UK, according to the Financial Times.
One possible reason for Johnson’s reluctance to seek Acoba’s advice on this matter is that its letters would make transparent the details of his post-ministerial career.
In the nine months he remained an MP after he left office, Johnson declared more than £5m in earnings, hospitality and donations. Johnson’s spokesperson declined to tell the Sunday Times how much he had been paid by Merlyn Advisors.
In June, Johnson was found in what Acoba’s chair described as a “clear and unambiguous” breach of the requirement set out in the ministerial code to seek the committee’s advice about his role as a columnist at the Daily Mail. Oliver Dowden, who served as party chair under Johnson, decided not to take any further action on the breach of the rules.
After Johnson resigned as foreign secretary in 2018, he was censured by Acoba for failing to seek their advice for his role as a columnist with the Telegraph.
Johnson’s position on his 45-minute talk with Maduro in Caracas, described by one source in the Sunday Times as an “argument”, concerned human rights, Ukraine and democracy. Merlyn Advisors’s co-founder, Maarten Petermann, a former JP Morgan banker, also sat in on the talks, the Sunday Times reported.
Johnson’s spokesperson told the Sunday Times: “Boris Johnson met Venezuelan government officials, with active support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the knowledge of the foreign secretary, in order to emphasise the need for Venezuela to embrace a proper democratic process.
“He repeatedly made clear there can be no hope of normalisation in relations until Venezuela fully embraces democracy and respects the territorial integrity of its neighbours. He also set out the case for the cause of Ukrainian victory to the government of Venezuela.”
Johnson flew to Caracas by private jet from the Dominican Republic, where he had been on a family holiday. The flight was also paid for by Merlyn Advisors, according to the Sunday Times.
