Cashing in: Gavin Barwell
Gavin Barwell, the author of How To Lose A Marginal Seat, is sticking his snout in the trough ever deeper.
Despite being firmly rejected by the voters of Croydon in 2017, the former Conservative MP and housing minister who ignored multiple warnings about fire safety before the Grenfell disaster looks like he’s doing better than ever.
Barwell, who was created a life peer by his former boss, Theresa Mayhem, has been signed up by PricewaterhouseCoopers as a paid “strategic adviser”. That should help pay for his kids’ private school fees, or bolster the bottom line of the ex-MP’s new company, Gavin Barwell Consulting Ltd…
PwC is one of the world’s biggest accountancy, auditing and management consultancy firms, operating in 158 countries, with 250,930 staff and global revenues in 2018 of £31.59billion – enough to build a Westfield Centre in Croydon 20 times over…
Westfield, and the development blight it has caused the town centre, is the real legacy to Croydon left by Barwell, the former member of the board of governors of the Whitgift Foundation, who brought the Australian mall developers into the borough in 2012.
After losing his seat in the House of Commons, Barwell was given shelter in No10 as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff. It seems that our Gav is still riding along on Mayhem’s coat tails. On January 24, May banked a cool £96,000 from PwC, apparently for 12 hours’ work – yeah, eight grand per hour.
And within days, Barwell’s juicy appointment at PwC came through. Cushty.
Effectively, it is an audit firm making a political investment.
The PwC gig comes not long after Barwell was handed a directorship at Clarion Housing.
It seems that Barwell is determined to milk his short – and failed – term as housing minister for all it is worth.
According to his House of Lords declarations of interests, at least four out of five of his most recent speaking engagements, all in 2020, have been on housing. Yet since being elevated to the Lords in October 2019, he has risen from the red leather benches to speak only twice. Public speaking must pay considerably better than the £305 daily allowance Barwell can pocket at the Lords.
Barwell the comedy critic
He’s even trying his hand as a comedy critic.
Last week, responding to the news from Boris Johnson’s ministerial reshuffle that the Tories have now, in 10 years, had as many housing ministers as notoriously fickle Chelsea football club have had managers, Barwell tweeted, “Not funny.”
What a wag, eh? Those lucrative after-dinner speaking engagements will soon be rolling in.
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As usual, when people set themselves up as Consultants, there will be an entry in Linked In and some promotional material, full of puff, available. This always contains a list of achievement so that potential clients can see the vast range of experience and successes that you have to offer.
In Gavin’s case this will be:
1. For a short while MP for Central Croydon and, for an even shorter time, Minister for Housing.
2, For an even shorter time, Chief of Staff to an unsuccessful Prime Minister.
3. Er….that’s it.
i wish him luck. It’s a tough world out there.
So Barwell is expanding his business empire, spreading his expertise in not being able to open post, failing to deal urgently with notices of flammable cladding, consorting with convicted criminals, etc ad infinitum. The post Brexit United Kingdom consulting sector has found another diamond to raise economic productivity and all round efficacy in business practice. Do not hesitate to contact him. Please make sure letters are sent by recorded delivery.
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/12255697/officers
How does he do it?
Don’t forget the Lords’ allowance goes up to 323 quid in April. If you’re on Single Person Universal Benefit you will get 22 pence more than a Lord.
Only thing is, the Lord gets his money for a day, the benefit is for a month…..