Addresses House of Commons
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has corrected the parliamentary record after scrutiny over a speech in which he described himself as having worked as a solicitor.
In a point of order raised in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Reynolds said it had “come to [his] attention” that in a speech delivered over a decade ago on 28 April 2014 he had referred to his “experience of using our local transport system in Greater Manchester ‘when I worked as a solicitor in Manchester city centre’”.
“I should have made clear that, specifically, … that was a reference at the time to being a trainee solicitor,” Reynolds said. “This was an inadvertent error, and although this speech was over a decade ago, as it has been brought to my attention, I would like to formally correct the record.”
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds corrects the record after mistakenly claiming to have been a solicitor in the Commons. pic.twitter.com/ogjdWd7kvO
— Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) March 12, 2025
The clarification comes after Reynolds’ use of the title “solicitor” was questioned, given that publicly available records do not show him on the roll of solicitors.
Reynolds completed a law degree and undertook a training contract at Addleshaw Goddard, but did not qualify into practice. Under the Solicitors Act 1974, only individuals admitted to the roll are entitled to call themselves solicitors.
Previously, Reynolds downplayed the controversy in comments made while on a trade trip to India. “I apologise for that,” he said, referring to his past references to himself as a solicitor, “but again, I don’t think anyone would have interpreted that in any way that I was misrepresenting myself professionally… I don’t think it’s a huge deal, but I should apologise for that if anyone has misunderstood that.”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has reopened its investigation into his use of the title.
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