Sue Hayman – Labour’s shadow environment minister and Lords Opposition Whip – is currently working for Grayling, a major London lobbying firm, Guido can exclusively reveal. Now sitting as a member of the firm’s ‘Senior Advisory Board’, Hayman was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020, having previously stood as Shadow Environment Secretary under Jeremy Corbyn before losing her Commons seat in the 2019 election. It looks like her fortunes have changed since then…

Grayling, a PR and lobbying firm, proudly advertise their ‘experience in lobbying and public affairs, and a track record of conducting successful government relations campaigns’. Their promotional material adds:

“[We] are ideally placed to support clients who seek genuine political intelligence and strategic guidance. We help you understand what makes politics and politicians tick, as well as how best to nurture relationships’.

The House of Lords’ register of interests reveals that Hayman also sits as a partner at Marron Consulting, a PR firm managed by her husband; that company also boasts of offering ‘strategic communications [and] stakeholder engagement services‘ for clients. She is the second Shadow Cabinet member who moonlights as a lobbyist. Starmer’s friend the shadow attorney general, Lord Falconer, also has a second job at a lobbying firm which was providing advice on ‘political lobbying’ in the UK. Nice work if you can get it…