The ban was called for last week by an independent inquiry chaired by crossbencher Lord Eames. The House of Lords will debate the proposals on 30 November. Lords officials said eight peers are paid for parliamentary consultancies and face having to end their employment by spring when the new rules are likely to be adopted.
Tony Blair has held talks with Tesco about lobbying on behalf of the supermarket, it was reported at the weekend. According to the Mail on Sunday, discussions went on for five months but ended without agreement. A spokesman for Blair said: 'Tony Blair and Tony Blair Associates have never done any work on behalf of Tesco.'
FD Public Affairs senior consultant Nicola Gilchrist has left the agency. Gilchrist has been a consultant at LLM since before the public affairs agency was acquired by FD in 2005. As PRWeek went to press, it was unclear whether Gilchrist had a new role lined up.
College Hill has invested in Brussels-based public affairs consultancy Policy Action. Directors Wes Himes and Lucy Cronin will now join the board of College Public Policy.
