Solicitors’ watchdog reopens investigation into Business Secretary’s profile

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has said it will reinvestigate Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds over accusations he misrepresented his legal career.

The SRA had previously said it would take no further action after Mr Reynolds was accused of describing himself as a solicitor when he had actually worked as a trainee at a law firm and never qualified.

But on Friday, a spokeswoman for the SRA said “further information” had come to light, prompting the regulator to look at the issue again.

‘Profiles’

She said: “We looked at that issue at the time we became aware of it and contacted Mr Reynolds about the profiles.

“The materials were corrected, and we closed the matter with no further action based on all the evidence we had at the time.

“However, we’ve now become aware of further information, so we will look at this.”

The regulator said it was unable to disclose what the “further information” was.

The term “solicitor” is legally protected and it is an offence for someone to call themselves a solicitor if they are not qualified and registered with the SRA.

‘Prosecution’

The SRA’s decision follows a letter from shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who said he had asked the regulator to “investigate with a view to prosecuting” Mr Reynolds on the basis of “new evidence”.

In his letter, Mr Jenrick accused the Business Secretary of having “claimed to be a solicitor in Parliament, on his website, online CV, social media as well as in conversations with high-profile businesspeople”.

Describing this as a “prima facie breach” of the law, he added: “Your own guidance states that falsely describing yourself as a solicitor on your social media profile is a criminal offence.”

Following the SRA’s announcement that it would look again at Mr Reynolds, Mr Jenrick urged the Prime Minister to sack him, saying Sir Keir Starmer “should be able to judge from the evidence before him that Reynolds doesn’t have a leg to stand on”.

He also warned that if the SRA “fail to act robustly that would risk the impression of double standards and a weakening of the legal framework”.

Mr Reynolds, who worked as a trainee solicitor in Manchester but left his legal career behind when he entered politics, has been accused of describing himself as a solicitor on his LinkedIn page, in the Commons and on an old constituency website that is no longer online.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Jonathan looks forward to engaging fully with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and drawing a line under the matter.”

The SRA did not contact Mr Reynolds before briefing media, sources close to the Business Secretary said.

The sources added that he corrected an “administrative error” on his LinkedIn profile immediately when it was highlighted to him, and pointed to “extensive historic examples” in the public domain that show he has only ever been a trainee solicitor.

A Labour source previously suggested the reference to him being a solicitor on his LinkedIn profile was “human error” and said Mr Reynolds did not manage the profile.

The row over Mr Reynolds’s CV has also seen the shadow business secretary, Andrew Griffith, ask the independent adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, to open an investigation of his own.