The Tory MP Geoffrey Cox has been missing parliamentary votes and sitting days while working at his lucrative second job as a lawyer in Mauritius, the Guardian can reveal.
The former attorney general, who has declared at least £500,000 in pay from his second job this year, was on the Indian Ocean island for at least three days in mid-September and missed two votes on cuts to the winter fuel allowance.
The KC was representing the chief prosecutor of Mauritius in a dispute with the nation’s police chief over the limits of his powers from 11-13 September, and also missed votes on 10 September.
Three years ago he was criticised for voting remotely while working as a lawyer in the British Virgin Islands when parliamentary procedures during the Covid crisis allowed this.
After the furore over Cox working abroad on his second job, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, promised curbs on MPs’ outside employment, suggesting a limit on hours or pay. Johnson’s No 10 said MPs “should focus on representing their constituents”, but the proposals for reforms were later largely dropped.
Keir Starmer’s government has set about restricting second jobs for MPs that fail to meet a new test of putting constituents first but it has abandoned plans for a blanket ban.
Under the new arrangements, there are more restrictions to stop MPs advising on parliament or public policy, but MPs will still be allowed to carry on professional practice in areas such as law and medicine, and to make media appearances and write books or articles.
Cox was re-elected as the Conservative MP for Torridge and Tavistock in Devon in July with a majority of 6,000, with the Liberal Democrats coming second. The seat boundary had been redrawn but the majority was vastly lower than Cox’s 25,000 majority in a similar seat in 2019.
Sarah Olney, the Lib Dems’ Cabinet Office spokesperson, said: “Just when you thought Conservative MPs couldn’t look more out of touch with the British public, we see more of the Tory sleaze and scandal we’ve become all too familiar with. Millions of vulnerable pensioners across the country are worried sick choosing between heating and eating this winter as their fuel allowance is slashed, and Tory MP Geoffrey Cox didn’t even bother to vote. The British public deserve better.”
A spokesperson for Cox said the MP informed the whips and was “paired” for the votes, meaning his absence was offset by another non-voting MP from another party.
“Sir Geoffrey undertook a longstanding commitment to represent the director of public prosecutions in a constitutional case before the Mauritius supreme court,” the spokesperson said. “He had informed the whips and was paired for the votes. Sir Geoffrey’s voting record in the house is better than many Lib Dems including its leader.
“The Lib Dems used to be a party that recognised that having senior KCs in legal practice while in the house was a good thing. Serious figures such as Emlyn Hooson QC MP who defended the Moors murderer [Ian] Brady while in the house, and Alex Carlile QC, who continued a distinguished legal practice, sat on the Lib Dem benches. This cheap and silly attack shows the Lib Dems are no longer a serious party.”
A Lib Dem source said Davey has taken part in nine parliamentary debates since the election, whereas Cox has not spoken in the Commons once since then.
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