The former cabinet minister Brandon Lewis has taken a six-figure job advising a company part-owned by two sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
Lewis, a former justice secretary and ex-chair of the Conservative party, was given approval to take up the position at LetterOne, which is 49% owned by Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven.
However, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which regulates post-government jobs, imposed conditions that prevent Lewis lobbying the government on LetterOne’s behalf for two years from his last day in office.
It also said that Lewis must have no involvement in a judicial review brought against the government by LetterOne, which is challenging a decision to require it to sell a fibre business called Upp, citing a “risk to national security”.
Lewis already has a number of other jobs paying him £150,000 a year in total, as well as being a backbench MP. He is paid £60,000 a year to work for Thakeham Homes, another £60,000 a year to work for FM Conway, a transport company, and £30,000 a year to advise Civitas Investment Management.
LetterOne, chaired by Mervyn Davies, a former banker and ex-Labour government minister, says it is now entirely separate from Fridman and Aven, who were sanctioned in 2022. The company has investments in brands such as the health food chain Holland & Barrett.
Fridman and Aven are still major shareholders, although their stakes were frozen after the imposition of UK and EU sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
LetterOne told the Financial Times: “The appointment of Brandon Lewis builds on the decisive changes we have been making following Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine … Today’s appointment follows the swift, robust and decisive action we undertook to distance L1 from its sanctioned shareholders.”
LetterOne complied with the sale direction in relation to Upp but has separately submitted a claim to the high court, seeking a judicial review of the government decision.
Lewis did not meet LetterOne while in office, but Acoba said there was a “risk associated with the company’s desire to influence the government in particular via the judicial review against the government’s decision”.
The watchdog said that LetterOne has confirmed Lewis’s role would not involve providing advice on Upp or the judicial review, which it said must be made a contractual obligation of his appointment with the company.
Lewis will chair the advisory council of LetterOne. He said after his appointment: “LetterOne has travelled a huge distance since Putin’s abhorrent invasion of Ukraine. It is now fully separate from its sanctioned founders and focused on investments that are vital for society as well as being one of the biggest corporate donors of aid to Ukraine.”
