Political reporter
PA MediaEnterprise Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is going through calls to resign after he was accused of falsely claiming to be a solicitor on his on-line CV.
Reynolds has beforehand mentioned he labored as a solicitor at a regulation agency in Manchester earlier than changing into an MP however he had stop his authorized coaching to run for Parliament in 2010 and by no means certified.
The Conservatives and Reform UK have each known as for Reynolds to step down from his cupboard position.
The cupboard minister had been described as a solicitor on his LinkedIn profile however the NEWSTORN has been informed this was an “administrative error” that has been corrected.
The up to date profile says Reynolds was a “trainee solicitor” on the Manchester department of the Addleshaw Goddard regulation agency between August 2009 and Could 2010.
It beforehand acknowledged he was each a “trainee solicitor” and a “solicitor”.
Shadow enterprise secretary Andrew Griffith mentioned he had written to the prime minister’s ethics adviser, asking him to research the claims.
Griffith urged Reynolds to “apologise and step down”, writing that he “seems to have knowingly mislead the general public”.
Reform UK has additionally known as on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to sack the enterprise secretary.
The occasion led by Nigel Farage instructed Reynolds had “misled Parliament” in 2014, when he informed the Home of Commons he had “labored as a solicitor in Manchester metropolis centre”.
On different events Reynolds has described himself as a trainee solicitor on the agency.
Certified solicitors are required to register with Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) to observe regulation in England and Wales.
The NEWSTORN understands the SRA contacted Reynolds in January in relation to an error on his LinkedIn profile.
The SRA clarified the foundations and the enterprise secretary then corrected what has been described as an “administrative error”.
An SRA spokesperson mentioned: “Our regulatory position is to guard the pursuits of customers of authorized companies.
“We’re conscious of this challenge, nevertheless having thought-about all components concerned, there is no such thing as a want for us to take any motion.”
Labour sources have instructed Reynolds doesn’t handle the LinkedIn profile.
Residence Workplace minister Dame Diana Johnson informed Instances Radio there have been “errors made by administrative employees”.
She mentioned “there was a little bit of a muddle” on LinkedIn.
She added: “However I feel he is been very clear he was a trainee solicitor, that is the place he held.”
The change to Reynolds’s LinkedIn profile was first reported by the Guido Fawkes web site.
It comes after a NEWSTORN investigation discovered Chancellor Rachel Reeves had exaggerated the size of time she labored on the Financial institution of England on her on-line CV.
A spokesman for Reeves confirmed that dates on her LinkedIn had been inaccurate and mentioned it was because of an administrative error by the group.
