Tory party’s ex-chair to be paid to advise firm with links to sanctions-hit Russians

Brandon Lewis was given approval earlier this month by the watchdog on post-government jobs to take up the position. Photograph: David Mirzoeff/PA

The former Conservative party chair, Brandon Lewis, will be paid £250,000 a year to advise a company part-owned by two Russian oligarchs with sanctions placed against them.

The job at LetterOne, an investment group 49% owned by Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, is Lewis’s fifth on top of his role as an MP, and his total earnings will come to almost £500,000 a year.