The International Development Secretary Priti Patel has stopped employing her husband Alex Sawyer after being criticised for paying him tens of thousands of pounds to run her office, while he allegedly held two other jobs, The Times has reported. The newspaper further said that Patel had used her staffing allowance to pay Alex Sawyer up to £25,000 per annum to work part-time as her office manager. He had held the job since early 2014 but had allegedly been working as a marketing consultant for Nasdaq, the American stock exchange, and also as a Conservative councillor in Bexley, southeast London.
Mr Sawyer had been employed by his wife since February 2014 but the new register of MPs’ interests reveals that he stopped working for her after the general election in June.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority has prohibited politicians from employing staff who are connected to them or parties. Mr Sawyer would have been allowed to continue working for Ms Patel because those employed before the last general election are exempt from the rules.
Mr Sawyer has insisted that he had never “worked for Nasdaq or Priti Patel simultaneously full-time”.
