Brandon Lewis: Former Tory chairman to join firm co-founded by sanctioned Russian billionaires
Conservative MP and former party chairman Brandon Lewis is set to join investment firm LetterOne which is still part-owned by two Russian oligarchs under sanctions.
The Tory MP for Great Yarmouth will join the London-based firm, co-founded by billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, as an advisor — as first reported by the Financial Times.
Both men have been sanctioned by Western nations following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Lewis has previously served as justice secretary, Northern Ireland secretary and as a security minister, and currently earns £86,584 a year as an MP.
He is expected to earn in the “low hundreds of thousands of pounds”, the FT reported, for working as a senior advisor at LetterOne, which owns health retailer Holland & Barrett.
The role will see him lead the firm’s chairman’s advisory council and advise the board.
Lewis, who was first elected in 2010, told Morning Wire: “I am proud of my record as the MP for Great Yarmouth.
“The time commitment of my non-parliamentary roles is modest and I have sought the advice of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) for these.”
Lewis added: “Having served as a government minister and secretary of state for 10 years, I know that my previous ministerial responsibilities involved a much greater time commitment but I still always carried out my duties as MP with care and diligence.”
All former ministers who have left government in the last two years must seek advice from ACOBA before taking up a new external role or appointment, as per the ministerial code.
LetterOne chairman Mervyn Davies said: “The appointment of Brandon Lewis builds on the decisive changes we have been making following Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine.”
He said Lewis “brings a wealth of experience” and would assist the firm in the more than 100,000 jobs its supports across 40 firms in the UK, EU and USA.
The move “follows the swift, robust and decisive action we undertook to distance L1 from its sanctioned shareholders,” he added.
Fridman and Aven continue to hold 49 per cent of shares — which are sanctioned — in LetterOne and are personally subject to sanctions. The firm is not subject to sanctions.
Both principal shareholders have resigned their positions, and their shareholdings are frozen, while no dividends will be paid to them.
But Anneliese Dodds, Labour Party chairman, said: “A seven jobbing Conservative MP advising a firm owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs is totally unacceptable.
“It makes yet another mockery of Rishi Sunak’s promise of professionalism, integrity and accountability at all levels.
“A year on and Sunak is either unwilling or unable to get a grip on the sleaze engulfing his failed government.”
ACOBA was contacted for comment by Morning Wire