Boris Johnson committed a “clear and unambiguous” breach of government ethics rules when he accepted a job at the Daily Mail, the official watchdog has said.
The ex-prime minister now writes a weekly column for the newspaper having stepped down as an MP.
Former ministers who have left the government in the last two years must seek advice from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) before. announcing or accepting a job.
In a letter to deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, Lord Pickles, the chairman of Acoba said: “Mr Johnson’s role as a columnist for the Daily Mail was trailed by the media outlet in a front page pre-announcement of a new columnist on the morning of Friday 16 June.
“Mr Johnson later the same day confirmed his new role in a pre-recorded video on twitter around 1pm, 30 minutes after submitting an application to Acoba for advice.
“This is a clear and unambiguous breach of the government’s rules and requirements of the ministerial code.”
He added: “Mr Johnson is familiar with both. He set out the standards expected in the ministerial code whilst prime minister.”
Pickles also slammed the current rules as “out of date” and said Acoba needed more powers to impose “sanctions” on former ministers who breach the guidance.
The purpose of the Acoba rules is to avoid “any suspicion that an appointment might be a reward for past favours”.
It is also to stop the risk that an employer “might gain an improper advantage by appointing a former official who holds information about its competitors, or about impending government policy”.
Or the risk of a former minister “improperly exploiting privileged access to contacts in government”.