FORMER Scottish Tory chief Ruth Davidson has been told to stand down as an MSP after taking on a lucrative but “wholly unethical” gig as a London lobbyist.
The Edinburgh MSP has joined PR firm Tulchan Communications as a senior adviser.
The lobbying business has offices in London and Singapore, and Davidson’s role will be helping the company’s corporate clients “navigate a continually evolving public and corporate landscape”.
It’s understood that Davidson, who earns £63,579 as an MSP, will receive £50,000 for 24 days of work a year.
The Tory stood down as her party’s leader in August saying she no longer wanted to spend “hundreds of hours away” from family fighting elections.
At the time Davidson said her intention was to continue in her role as the MSP for Edinburgh Central until 2021. Tulchan’s clients include a number of household names, and a number of controversial businesses, including the PFI firm HICL Infrastructure, whose Scottish portfolio includes 56 schools.
The SNP, Labour, Greens, and LibDems all called on the Tory MSP to choose between her constituents and her corporate clients.
The Public Relations and Communications Association trade body even described the appointment as “wholly unethical”.
Francis Ingham, PRCA director-general, said: “It is simply wrong for lobbying agencies to employ legislators.”
SNP MSP Gordon MacDonald described Davidson’s decision to take on a new job as a “monumental misjudgement”.
He said she could not “be allowed to accept cash from a lobbying firm while continuing to sit as an MSP”.
MacDonald added: “That’s not only a conflict of interest – it’s holding her constituents, and the Scottish Parliament as a whole, in contempt.
“Ruth Davidson needs to decide which day job matters. If she isn’t interested in focusing on her role as an MSP she should allow the people of Edinburgh Central to pick a representative who is. If she is brazen enough to continue sitting as an MSP, then the questions and pressure on her will simply continue to pile up.”
Labour’s Neil Findlay, who is currently trying to get a Bill through Holyrood banning MSPs from taking on a second job, called on Davidson to resign: “Instead of standing up for her constituents in Parliament she will be standing up for the firms that her bosses are paid to lobby for.
“You cannot be a parliamentarian and a highly paid lobbyist at the same time. If she wants to continue pocketing tens of thousands of pounds from this lobbying firm she should resign as an MSP.
“The people of Edinburgh deserve an MSP that will represent them, not private corporations.”
Scottish Green MSP Alison Johnstone agreed, and called for Findlay’s Bill to be fast-tracked, saying: “This is clearly a conflict of interests. Davidson needs to resign from the corporate body and as an MSP so Edinburgh Central can elect a committed representative. Most folk who take second jobs do so through pressing necessity. It’s time for a by-election in Edinburgh Central, not to mention a change in the law. Neil Findlay’s bill on second jobs for MSPs should be fast tracked to stop this happening again.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Tories said the role was “well within all parliamentary and industry rules.”
He added: “It is far less onerous than the party leadership she held for eight years.”
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