The head of communications for U.K.’s prime minister, Theresa May, is stepping down from her roles in the private sector after several people questioned whether it was a conflict of interest for her to remain under their employ.
Katie Perrior officially resigned this week from her directorship at three PR firms—iNHouse PR, iNHouse Connex and Hersay Ltd.—months after taking the public sector job. Her resignations are backdated to July when Perrior took the Downing Street position.
Perrior said in a statement to The Guardian that her failure to resign from those companies had been an “administrative oversight.”
However, the publication reported that Perrior “has appeared at some of the agency’s official events” since taking the official post.
British Labor Party politician and Member of Parliment Melanie Onn was the first to raise the ethics concerns.
“It should not have taken my intervention for this potential conflict of interest to be identified,” Onn told reporters after Perrior resigned.
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The British Cabinet Office issued the following statement:
Ms Perrior informed the Cabinet Office that due to an administrative oversight, her accountants had not registered her resignation on the documents relating to the dormant companies, only the ones that were trading.
This has been rectified and is shown on the notes at Companies House which clearly state that Ms Perrior resigned from all companies on the 14 July 2016.
On appointment as a special adviser, Ms Perrior informed the Cabinet Office of her business interests. She confirmed she had resigned from the board of iNHouse Communications and that she had given up her shareholding in the company. She has no continuing relationship with this company.
What do you think about the conflict, PR Daily readers? How would you avoid a similar situation with your clients and organizations?
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