Norman Baker MP Member of Parliament for Lewes constituency
|Home
Contact Norman at:
Norman Baker,
23 East Street,
Lewes,
East Sussex,
BN7 2LJ.
Tel: (01273) 480281.
Fax: (01273) 480287.
Email: info
This website has been partly paid for from the funds made available to every MP to assist them in communicating with and representing their constituents.
Printed and hosted by Pipex Communications UK Ltd, Humber Buildings, Humber Rd, Beeston, Notts, NG9 2ET. Published and promoted by Norman Baker MP, House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 1AA. The views expressed are those of Norman Baker, not of the service provider.
Norman Baker's complaint about David Cameron's conduct upheld
The House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges has today upheld Mr Norman Baker’s complaint about the conduct of Conservative Leader, David Cameron MP, after he used his six-room office suite at the House of Commons in order to raise money for the Conservative Party.
Mr Baker’s complaint to the Serjeant At Arms at the House of Commons and Sir Philip Mawer, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, followed allegations published in the press in December 2006 that Mr Cameron was offering membership of a ‘Leader’s Group’ in exchange for a £50,000 donation to the Conservative Party. The leaflets advertising the group offered the opportunity to meet with the Leader several times a year at small dinners or lunches and in his parliamentary office, paid for out of public funds, after Prime Minister’s Question Time.
David Cameron has offered his unreserved apologies to the House for his contravention of the Code of Conduct in respect of the use of his offices and has offered an assurance that it will not happen again.
Commenting on the decision, Norman Baker said:
"I am grateful that this matter has been properly investigated and that my complaint has been upheld. I took the view that it is inappropriate for offices provided at public expense to be used for party fundraising activities, as Mr Cameron has been found to have done, and I am therefore pleased that both the Commissioner and the Committee on Standards and Privileges have upheld that view.
"Whilst Mr Cameron’s actions will unfortunately raise further doubt in the public mind about the conduct of MPs in general, I hope that the public will nevertheless both appreciate that a system for complaining about such misconduct is in place and that they can have confidence that the mechanisms in place for dealing with improper behaviour do work."