Legal watchdog re-examines Jonathan Reynolds solicitor claim
The legal regulator, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), said it would examine the business secretary’s claim to be a solicitor again after it became “aware of further information.”
Jonathan Reynolds was accused last week of falsely claiming to be a solicitor when he was just a trainee at law firm Addleshaw Goddard’s Manchester office.
It was revealed on political blog Guido Fawkes that he previously described himself as a solicitor, including on his LinkedIn profile, a constituency website, and in the House of Commons.
Between August 2009 and May 2010, he was at the law firm on a trainee contract, but he left to run for Parliament before qualifying as a solicitor.
According to the Law Society, a trainee solicitor works at a law firm under a trainee contract to gain practical experience and complete the necessary steps to become a fully qualified solicitor, usually lasting two years full-time.
He also does not appear on the regulator’s online register, which means he is not regulated.
The news came after it was revealed that Rachel Reeves’ LinkedIn profile exaggerated the length of time she worked at the Bank of England.
There were calls for Reynolds to go from his opposite number, Tory Andrew Griffith, and the five members of Reform UK.
The shadow business and trade secretary has written to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent advisor on ministerial standards, to ask him to investigate what he called “potential breaches of the ministerial code.”
Morning Wire revealed last week that it understood the SRA contacted Reynolds in January to clarify the rules in this area and correct an error on his LinkedIn profile.
A Labour source told Morning Wire that Reynolds “engaged fully and corrected this administrative error immediately” and that the SRA would take “no further action”.
Commenting on his solicitor claim, an SRA spokesperson said: “We are aware of this issue, however, having considered all factors involved, there is no need for us to take any action.”
However, soon after, the spokesperson went on to say: “We looked at that issue when we became aware of it and contacted Reynolds about the profiles.”
“The materials were corrected, and we closed the matter with no further action based on all the evidence we had at the time.”
“However, we’ve now become aware of further information, so we will look at this,” they added.
Reynolds apologised today for describing himself as a solicitor in Parliament, but insisted he was not “misrepresenting myself professionally”.
The secretary, who is in India to restart talks on a trade deal, told the Guardian that “over a decade ago” he had “used shorthand” in a speech that was “not a speech about the legal profession or legal regulation or the law”.
“I apologise for that, but again, I don’t think anyone would have interpreted that in any way that I was misrepresenting myself professionally.”