Andy Burnham has come out in support of the business secretary after the Conservatives and Reform UK called on him to resign over claims he exaggerated his online CV.
Jonathan Reynolds has previously said that he was employed as a solicitor at a Manchester law firm before entering politics. However, he left his legal training in 2010 to campaign in the general election and never completed his qualification, according to Guido Fawkes.
The Tories and Reform UK have now demanded his resignation as business secretary, despite his team claiming that the issue was simply an “administration error” on his LinkedIn profile, which has now been corrected to state that he was a “trainee solicitor”.
It previously claimed he was a “trainee solicitor” and then a “solicitor” at the Addleshaw Goddard law firm between August 2009 and May 2010.
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffiths has written to Keir Starmer’s ethics adviser urging him to investigate the claim, saying he should “apologise and step down”.
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has also demanded his resignation for “misleading Parliament” in 2014 when he told MPs in the House of Commons he “worked as a solicitor in Manchester city centre”.
But, former Labour cabinet minister, now mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham has defended his colleague to local radio: “It’s important that everybody accurately reflects their past life on their public CVs or statements. I’m sure if it needed to be clarified, it has been clarified.
“I think everybody should take care of these things. Everyone tries to put the best light on what they have done but it has to be, obviously, factual.
“Jonathan has been doing a really good job as business secretary. He is a Greater Manchester MP and he is completely committed to his constituency and he has done some great work with us as business secretary and he has my full support.”
He added that he doesn’t “know all the details” as he is “out of the Westminster controversies”.
