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Boris Johnson failed to disclose that while serving as prime minister he met a uranium lobbyist connected to a co-director at his green energy consultancy Better Earth Limited.
The news comes after The Independent revealed that Mr Johnson had employed former aide Charlotte Owen as the firm’s vice-president, despite facing fierce criticism for elevating her to the House of Lords at the age of 29.
Transparency campaigners have now warned there appear to be “serious public interest questions” over the nature of the former Tory leader’s relationship with his co-director Amir Adnani, The Observer reports.
Mr Adnani, a Canadian citizen, is the founder, president and CEO of Uranium Energy Corp, a US-based mining company that had previously been championed by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
Mr Johnson met Scott Melbye, the executive vice-president of Uranium Energy Corp, in Westminster in May 2022, while he was still prime minister.
Better Earth was incorporated last December by Mr Adnani, who is the director of a number of offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands.
Companies House filings show “The Rt Hon Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson” was added as a director and chair in May, while Ms Owen was added as vice-president this summer.
News of her latest role emerged in a two-line entry in her Lords register of interests in the last month. Her salary was not disclosed.
The website for Better Earth, which is not fully operational, says: “Better Earth is an internationally facing company that seeks to contribute to global decarbonisation by developing energy transition projects in the renewable, net-zero power generation, emissions reduction and removal sectors.”
The committee that oversees ex-ministerial appointments had warned Mr Johnson in April 2024 that the “broad overlap” between his role in office and at the new company may entail “unknown risks” due to a lack of transparency over their clients.
A statement from the Cabinet Office noted the potential for a conflict of interests, particularly because of “the unknown nature of Better Earth’s clients – specifically that there is a risk of a client engaging in lobbying the UK government”.
However, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments was reassured that Mr Johnson “did not meet with, nor did you make any decisions specific to Better Earth during your time in office”.
The meeting with Mr Melbye was not recorded in the prime minister’s official diary.
A post about the meeting on X by Mr Adnani said Mr Johnson and Mr Melbye discussed nuclear power and uranium, as well as celebrating the PM’s call for a new nuclear reactor to be built each year.
The entrepreneur was among those who supported the former leader’s £700m investment in the controversial Sizewell C plant, and had tweeted: “Boris Johnson plans to sign off on new £30bn nuclear plant in his final week in power! #uranium.”
Speaking to The Observer, Professor Roger Cashmore, former chair of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, said: “What I really worry about is the technical expertise of many of the people coming in. That’s where the real shortage is. And what that means is that there’s a lot of snake oil merchants in the business offering surefire investments when really there’s no such thing.
“And obviously Boris Johnson has no expertise in this area himself, he’s just a frontman. I have no idea who these people are he’s in business with so I’m not passing any judgement, but I do wonder how much homework he’s done.”
According to Companies House, Better Earth currently has no “person with significant control” after Mr Adnani ceased to be listed as such in December. Its initial filing was made with a single share owned by Nevada firm Emissions Reduction Corp.
Baroness Margaret Hodge, the former Labour MP, told the paper: “What on earth is an ex-prime minister of the United Kingdom doing, working for a company with an opaque structure?
“In my experience, those who choose to have a UK company owned by a foreign entity only do that because they may have something to hide. What is it in this case? Given the sensitivities around nuclear capabilities, we should know who he is in business with, where the money is coming from and why he is using a financial structure that appears to hide the beneficial ownership of the company.”
His role within Better Earth has also raised questions over Ms Owen’s appointment, just over a year after he caused a political storm by naming her in his honours list.
At the time, she was a previously unknown junior adviser who had only worked alongside Mr Johnson for a matter of months, before taking up her title as Baroness of Alderly Edge in July last year.
In her first speech in the Lords, she praised the former PM “who put a great deal of trust in me… I will be forever grateful not only for this but for his kindness and encouragement”.
Boris Johnson and Uranium Energy Corp have been approached for comment.
