Owen Paterson may face £7,500 fine over lobbying for healthcare firm

Watchdog provisionally concludes former Tory MP broke transparency rules when he lobbied on behalf of Randox

The disgraced former Conservative MP Owen Paterson faces being fined after a Whitehall watchdog provisionally concluded that he broke transparency rules by failing to register as a lobbyist for a healthcare firm.

On Friday, Harry Rich, the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, said he proposed to conclude that Paterson had acted unlawfully when he lobbied ministers on behalf of Randox. The watchdog intends to fine Paterson up to 7,500 but gave the former MP an opportunity to overturn the decision.