The Telegraph is reporting this morning that any vote on gay marriage will be a free vote – something Guido told you months ago. Tory Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin told a meeting in Parliament back in March that the vote would have to be free, and he would know. Owen Paterson’s intervention against the idea seems to have forced Cameron’s hand further and will do the Northern Ireland Secretary’s growing reputation on the right no harm…

.@GuidoFawkes scoop confm'd, Susie Squire going to CCHQ to replace the retiring Henry Macrory My take on what it means, specc.ie/KjOOXu—
James Forsyth (@JGForsyth) May 22, 2012

As revealed here this morning…

Reliable Tory sources tell Guido that IDS SpAd Susie Squire is being lined up to replace Henry Macrory as the Head of Press at CCHQ. Guido spoke to Susie this morning who refused to comment on our well sourced speculation.  The frontline job at DWP is one of the toughest spinning jobs in government, yet Squire, a veteran former spinner for the Taxpayers’ Alliance,  has still managed to remain popular amongst hacks…

After Guido revealed this week that Patrick Mercer, the Chairman of the All Party Group for Security, has been taking fees for introducing clients to security consultant who pays him a monthly fee, Labour MP Thomas Docherty has reported the Tory backbencher to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner. Docherty says: “There are serious questions to answer. This appears to be another example of a cosy arrangement between shady businessmen and a senior Conservative.” Quite…

Guido has got hold of the letter:

Dear Mr Lyon,

You may be aware of media reports concerning the Chairman of the All Party Group on Specialist Security and Member for Newark Patrick Mercer.

http://order-order.com/2012/05/14/the-bodyguard-the-tory-mp-and-the-mystery-cash/

http://order-order.com/2012/05/14/mercer-security-cash-is-for-client-introductions-claims-grey-area-is-moot-point/

Mr Mercer sponsored a parliamentary pass for a security consultant named Kevin Horak until November 2011, when Mr Horak became the passholder for the Security APG. He still has this pass.

Whilst a passholder Mr Horack’s company Clearwater Security has paid Mr Mercer £9,500 in consultancy fees.

Mr Mercer in his own words told a journalist that these fees were introductions of potential clients to Clearwater.

When questioned on a potential conflict of interest Mr Mercer responded that this was “a moot point”, but was seemingly unable or unwilling to provide evidence to the contrary.

Though Mr Mercer claims that these introductions are done “exclusively of Parliament” it is my belief that there is scope for investigation to determine that this is indeed the case.

There is prima facie evidence that Mr Mercer’s private business interests are being benefited by his role as the Chairman of the group and given the access granted to Mr Horak, it would appear the parliamentary estate is also potentially open to abuse.

It certainly does not pass the “sniff test”…

The Prime Minister will do an impersonation of Margaret Thatcher and say shortly:

From: 1922 Committee
Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 07:30 PM
Subject: Election Results

Please find attached results for today’s elections. I am very grateful to all colleagues who participated as candidates or by voting. Turnout was approximately 95%. Graham Brady

1922 COMMITTEE
SECRETARY

The following candidates were elected:

KAREN BRADLEY
NICK DE BOIS

1922 COMMITTEE
EXECUTIVE MEMBERS

STEVE BAKER
GUTO BEBB
GEORGE EUSTICE
GRAHAM EVANS
ROBERT HALFON
GEORGE HOLLINGBERY
BERNARD JENKIN
SIMON KIRBY
PENNY MORDAUNT
SHERYLL MURRAY
PRITI PATEL
HEATHER WHEELER

1922 COMMITTEE
BACKBENCH BUSINESS COMMITTEE

The following were elected to be the Conservative members of the Committee:

DAVID AMESS
BOB BLACKMAN
JANE ELLISON
MARCUS JONES

Wow! 11 of 18 Tory MPs on 1922 committee voted for In / Out EU referendum. Big shift towards those wanting referendum—
Douglas Carswell MP (@DouglasCarswell) May 16, 2012

Call it a draw. Good turn out for the 301 but a dozen “Better Off Out” Members…

Brady, Walker, Wittingdale and Binley have been returned unopposed, but plenty still to play for:

“The nominations for vacancies among the officers and executive of the 1922 Committee and the Conservative members of the Backbench Business Committee are attached. Voting will take place in Committee Room 14 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday 16^th May.  There will be a brief meeting of the Committee at 6 p.m.”

Anyone running a book?

UPDATE: Scribd seems to be falling over. You can also find the document here.

It was all smiles last night in Downing Street as Dave welcomed a tranche of Tory candidates in for drinks. Jokes about still waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares of his own selection process could not mask the bad news – that thanks to the boundary reviews there are no real safe seats up for grabs, but chin up and try again next time.

Guido was more intrigued by Dave’s digs about “unchaining” from the coalition that he’s in “not out of love or loyalty”. Though he repeated “unchaining” more than once, not every one was convinced he had a plan of how it’s going to happen…

Guido had a chat with Patrick Mercer this afternoon following this morning’s revelations about the parliamentary pass that he gave the managing director of a security firm that just happens to pay him a monthly fee. Mercer claims that he can check whenever Kevin Horak of Clearwater Security enters the building, but has never done so: “We have an agreement.. when he comes down he tells me, when he’s in Parliament I know what he is doing.” So why the need for the pass?

Guido dug into what exactly it is that Mercer does for his monthly stipend from Clearwater Security and he happily acknowledged it was simply for him to introduce the firm to potential clients – individuals and organisations that require security services. He claims his payment was cut because he wasn’t very good at it. Hmm…

The Newark MP claims that there is no conflict of interest because he doesn’t do this “consultancy work” on Parliamentary time, but given that he is the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Security Group the grey area is huge. Mercer claims that he did not get into the security world through being an MP, but could not really explain how these introductions were done “exclusive of Parliament” given his job – “that’s a moot point.” Indeed it is…

Guido would argue that a Chairman of an All Party Parliamentary Group for Security should not be taking money off private security firms – even if it has been declared – especially as that money is given in return for introductions to potential clients for that firm.

Patrick Mercer, the Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Security, has received almost £10,000 from private security firm Clearwater. Until October 2011 the Tory MP sponsored their Managing Director Kevin Horak’s parliamentary pass. While he had that pass, Mercer was paid £1,000 per month by Clearwater for “security consultancy”…

Horak has now been given a pass by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Security which Mercer runs, and since then the monthly stipend has dropped to £500. Horak is a self proclaimed expert on security matters and he boasts all sorts of connections to politicians, including Gordon Brown and former Defence Secretary John Hutton, in order to promote his business. He’s wandering the corridors of power unchecked…

It’s not just the access that Horak is getting. The list of Written Questions Mercer has put in is coincidentally littered with references to private security – Mr Horak’s line of business. The website for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Security states that no one  in the group received any benefits from sources outside of Parliament. Guido feels that’s a pretty bold claim…

N.B: No answer on Mercer’s office line. However all of the sources for this story are publicly available…