Conservative MP Gets Promotion at Energy Firm He Was Called to Resign From

Conservative MP Gets Promotion at Energy Firm He Was Called to Resign From

Mark Pritchard has been handed a new, upgraded title, weeks after he was warned to quit the £46,800-a-year role

Conservative MP Mark Pritchard has received a new, more senior title at an energy firm that critics recently called on his to resign from, Byline Times can reveal.

We revealed that Pritchard had been appointed on 1 May this year as a “strategic marketing communications” advisor to Linden Energy Holdings, with an annual salary of £3,900 a-month, equivalent to £46,800 a-year, for which he was required to deliver 12 hours of work a month.

US-based Linden focuses on ‘energy development’, obtaining sources of energy from natural resources, including fossil fuels. Recently, the firm announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire 50% of Bulgaria’s largest privately owned gas company, Overgas. The shares were previously owned by Russia’s Gazprom and were repurchased by Overgas in December 2020.

Linden Energy President Steve Payne allegedly “has been active in the energy industry of the former Soviet Union for decades”.

Payne, a former advisor to George W. Bush, was reportedly a “key player” in lobbying the US to lift its oil export ban in 2015. Greenpeace has found that reinstating the ban could lead to reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions of as much as 80 to 181 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. By comparison, New York City annually accounts for 55 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

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The Observer further claimed that Linden executives had pushed for the increased use of fossil fuels while downplaying the role of carbon emissions in the climate crisis. The newspaper quoted the Green Party in calling for Pritchard to consequently step down from his role at Linden.

“The interests of fossil fuel companies should have no place at the heart of our democracy,” Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said. “I would urge the Government to force Mr Pritchard to choose between his new job in the industry and his position as an MP.”

However, a new entry in Pritchard’s register of interests shows that, rather than standing down, he has been elevated to a more senior position. According to the register, Pritchard now serves as “Lead Marketing Counsel and Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board” at Linden Energy. The chairman of the advisory board is Mike Pompeo, who served under President Donald Trump as director of the CIA from 2017 to 2018 and as Secretary of State from 2018 to 2021.

Neither Pritchard nor Linden Energy responded to our requests for comment.

Pritchard is also paid £24,000-a-year for “strategic marketing counsel”, working for the non-profit organisation Strategeast, for which he is required to work 10 hours a month. Prior to August this year he also held a marketing role with RE People – an employment placement agency – likewise earning him £24,000-a-year.

The basic annual salary for an MP is £84,144 – meaning that Pritchard currently earns £154,944-a-year, 46% through his second and third jobs. This puts Pritchard, who represents The Wrekin in Shropshire, in the top 2% of earners in the UK. The median average salary for a full-time worker in the UK is £31,285.

Pritchard’s new role also follows recent controversy about the second jobs of MPs. Late last year, the Government attempted to defend then-Conservative MP Owen Paterson, after he was found to have breached Parliament’s lobbying rules on behalf of two clients that collectively paid him £108,000 a-year. The ensuing political scandal forced Paterson to stand down from Parliament and prompted uproar over the lucrative employment opportunities quietly enjoyed by the nation’s representatives.

A recent analysis found that MPs had collectively earned £13 million from second jobs from 2019 to 2022.

In the midst of a cost of living crisis, led by spiralling energy bills, it is therefore understandable that voters would be perturbed about an MP earning such considerable sums from an energy company.