An official watchdog ordered Jonathan Reynolds to stop calling himself a solicitor, it has emerged.
The Business Secretary faces calls for his resignation after incorrectly claiming to be a solicitor on his LinkedIn page, in the House of Commons and on an old constituency website that is no longer online. Labour sources have stated that these were mistakes.
The profession is regulated by law and nobody is allowed to call themselves a solicitor unless they have been accepted as one by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Mr Reynolds worked as a trainee at a law firm before entering politics but never qualified as a solicitor.
It has now emerged that the SRA contacted Mr Reynolds in January about his LinkedIn profile, which was then corrected.
An SRA spokesman said: “Our regulatory role is to protect the interests of users of legal services. We are aware of this issue, however having considered all factors involved, there is no need for us to take any action.”
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has written to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, asking him to open an investigation into potential breaches of the Ministerial Code.
Mr Griffith said: “By repeatedly referring to himself as a solicitor on his website, online CV (LinkedIn) and social media as well as in conversations with high-profile business people … the Secretary of State appears to have knowingly misled the public in a manner not compatible with the Ministerial Code and the standards rightly expected of those in high public office.”
A Labour source suggested the reference to him being a solicitor on the LinkedIn profile was “human error” and said Mr Reynolds does not manage the profile.
The profile previously stated that he was both a “trainee solicitor” and a “solicitor”.
The source also suggested Mr Reynolds did not write the biography on the old constituency website himself and that the mention in a parliamentary speech in 2014 was a passing reference.
Mr Reynolds said in the speech that he “worked as a solicitor in Manchester city centre” when talking about how he commuted to work as MPs debated a bill on high-speed rail.
Dame Diana Johnson defended her colleague on Wednesday morning, telling Times Radio she thought there had been “a bit of a muddle” but that Mr Reynolds has been clear he was a trainee solicitor.
She said: “I think there’s been administrative mistakes but I think it’s very clear that he was a trainee solicitor.”
Reform UK’s five MPs wrote to Sir Keir Starmer asking the Prime Minister to sack Mr Reynolds as a minister.
