Tory MP needing ‘to pay school fees’ pleaded for lucrative Middle East work
A Conservative MP pleaded with a fixer to help him secure a well-paid second job with a Saudi company or other work relating to the Middle East, at one point saying he needed money to pay school fees.
Daniel Kawczynski’s repeated pleas for lucrative employment – revealed in a series of WhatsApp messages seen by the Guardian – show him citing his proSaudi stance in parliament as part of an attempt to get paid work from a businessman.
The Tory MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham asked a fixer to find him work with a Saudi employer, describing himself as the most “pro-Saudi” member of parliament and boasting that the Saudi leader, Mohammed bin Salman, “has stated that Saudi has no better friend in UK than me”.
In one message, Kawczynski said: “I am looking for a position with a company as non exec director or adviser/consultant. Obviously my passion for Anglo Arab relations [is] something which could help a company with relations in the UK or Middle East. Not sure what remuneration I am looking for but you are such a good negotiator!!! Best wishes Daniel.”
In another, the Tory MP asked the fixer for paid work on a conference related to Saudi Arabia’s regional foe, Qatar: “Promise you will push for good remuneration too for me … I need it to pay school fees!”
Kawczynski arranged to host one potential Saudi employer in parliament, offering him a tour of the House of Commons and a dinner in the MPs’ private dining room. He also arranged to meet the fixer in his parliamentary office to discuss a project.
While no new employment appears to have materialised from the conversations, both incidents raise questions over whether Kawczynski breached rules that bar MPs from using the House of Commons for private work. A spokesperson for Kawczynski said he had “broken no rules with regards to second jobs, and most importantly he prioritises his work as MP for the constituency of Shrewsbury and Atcham”.
Elsewhere in the messages, which were sent between September 2017 and June 2018, Kawczynski said he was disillusioned with politics in Westminster and would like one day to be UK ambassador to Riyadh rather than a backbench MP.
The revelations are likely to reignite debates over sleaze and the rules that allow MPs to take second jobs, and they come as the Conservatives are fighting to retain their seat in Thursday’s North Shropshire byelection, which was triggered by the resignation of Owen Paterson.
Kawczynski’s constituency is adjacent to the North Shropshire constituency held by Paterson before he was found to have lobbied for private companies.
In the WhatsApp conversations, Kawczynski repeatedly asked the fixer to secure him regular paid work with their Middle East contacts: “Please do your best … I need an important strategic position which will allow me to spend time in Gulf ideally helping and advising an important company.” In another exchange he said: “Ideally I am looking for a consultancy in monthly basis as I need the stability of regular income.”
In one exchange, which took place late at night, the fixer raised the prospect of arranging paid work for Kawczynski with the Saudi businessman Yasser bin Homran: “He has money and is from a very prominent family in Saudi. He wants to engage in politics.” Kawczynski replied within minutes: “He wants to engage in British politics?? What time are you free in morning to discuss please?”
When Bin Homran was in London, Kawczynski made himself available at short notice and booked a table for dinner with him in the MPs’ private dining room in the House of Commons, saying he would take the Saudi businessman on a tour of parliament and “into the chamber to watch debate”.
Later, when the possibility of a paid consultancy appeared to be receding, the Tory MP asked the fixer to emphasise how committed he had been to promoting the interests of the Saudis in parliament. “Do they understand how genuinely pro Saudi I am??? No one in Commons has promoted Saudi more during last 12 years as genuinely pro Saudi.”
Kawczynski later chased the fixer to find out whether Bin Homran would offer any work, but it appears that no employment transpired. Contacted by the Guardian, Kawczynski declined to comment on the dinner meeting. The fixer, who was also present at the dinner, said that “no money or business” was discussed. Bin Homran did not respond to requests for comment.
‘I need it to pay school fees!’
At the time, the fixer was working freelance for Khalid al-Hail, an exiled Qatari businessman who was hosting prominent conferences in London about his native country. Kawczynski declared a £15,000 fee for speaking at and helping the fixer to organise one of Al-Hail’s conferences on the Qatar crisis in September 2017.
When Kawczynski heard that AlHail was organising a follow-up conference about the Qatar World Cup the following year, the Conservative MP again offered his services in return for “good remuneration”.
“When do you think you could let me know about proposed role for me? Promise you will push for good remuneration too for me … I need it to pay school fees!”, the Conservative MP told the fixer in one message.
Al-Hail told the Guardian he had no knowledge of messages between his fixer and Kawczynski.
It was around this time that Kawczynski invited the fixer to a meeting in parliament to discuss the “next project”. As they firmed up a time to meet, the MP added: “Perhaps you could come to Commons?? We could have coffee together in my office in Commons or can meet you somewhere else if not convenient for you!”
Kawczynski did not respond to a request for comment about whether the meeting in his parliamentary office breached the rules. Lawyers for the fixer confirmed the meeting took place in the Houses of Parliament, but suggested it was not a business gathering but a “general meeting to get to know more about each other”.
In the end, Kawczynski does not appear to have succeeded in securing further paid work from either the fixer or their Saudi contacts. However, around this time he did find another lucrative source of work to supplement his income as an MP.
From February 2018, he declared a consultancy earning £6,000 a month for a mining and precious metals investment company named Electrum Group. In July 2021, he reduced his hours and fees for the group to £3,000 a month. He has received more than £250,000 from the company to date.
The Electrum Group is owned by the US billionaire Thomas Kaplan. Kaplan has spoken of his exceptional closeness to the Saudi and UAE royal families and shares a pro-Saudi position with Kawczynski. Electrum’s major investors have included the sovereign wealth funds of UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Electrum and Kawczynski, who was born in Poland and came to the UK as a child, both said his consultancy was completely unrelated to any Middle Eastern interests and was solely for the MP’s advice on the Polish regulatory system.