A north-east MP who criticised the windfall tax says he followed the rules after it emerged his wife has BP (LON: BP) shares worth more than £50,000.
David Duguid, who represents Banff and Buchan, has spoken out in parliament against windfall taxes on energy companies such as BP.
He has also voted against proposals to examine the impact of increasing such taxes.
Analysis by The Guardian suggests Mr Duguid moved his shares into his wife’s name five years before his election as an MSP in 2017.
But his wife’s financial interest was not publicly disclosed in the House of Commons register.
The Conservative MP says he “followed the prevailing rules for reporting financial interests”.
The rules require MPs to declare the financial interests of a spouse or other family member, where there could be considered a conflict.
It is understood all the shareholdings were declared to the Cabinet Office as part of the process for declaring interests under the ministerial code.
It is then for the independent adviser on ministerial interests to decide which “relevant” interests are then published on the public list.
His wife has more than 11,000 shares and will have received more than £2,000 last year in dividends.
Former BP employee
The former Scotland Office minister worked in the oil and gas industry for 25 years, including 10 years with BP.
He has declared interests in BP in two debates but only by referencing his previous employment at the firm.
The MP has spoken out four times on the windfall tax in the Commons since the start of 2022.
The Energy Profits Levy was introduced in May 2022 and applies to profits made from extracting UK oil and gas.
Speaking to the Press and Journal in January that year, Mr Duguid said: “A windfall tax could damage the energy transition by shaking investor confidence, threatening the economy and livelihoods as well as our net zero objectives in the process.”
The former Scotland Office minister represents a north-east constituency, where thousands of people are employed in the oil and gas sector.
BP’s shareholder register shows Mr Duguid stopped being a shareholder in BP in November 2012, on the same day his wife joined the company’s register of interests.
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