Costly Cox

Costly jetsetting £3,000 per hour Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Cox QC needs to resign if the Conservative Party wants a chance of clearing up the stench of sleaze

Though clearly an intelligent man in many ways, Cambridge educated The Right Honourable Sir Geoffrey Cox QC MP is clearly someone completely out of touch with the struggles of those he is meant to represent in his Torridge and West Devon constituency.

Aside from having pocketed an astonishing £6 million from legal work since becoming a Member of Parliament in 2005 on top of his basic £82,000 annual salary for that job (£1.3 million for the 16-year period excluding an extravgant expense allowance added on top), costly Sir Geoffrey, the Mirror this morning revealed, outrageously put in a claim for £1,500 for “seven round trips to London in three months last year when he only voted in person on three days.”

Like the shameless malverser and now ex-MP Owen Paterson, it is clear that Sir Geoffrey Cox’s priorities are not his constituents but instead feathering his very own nest. Here is a man who – though clearly not having broken any rule currently in place it thus far seems – is lacking in common sense and the ability to see that his position is now completely untenable.

Aside from The Guardian referencing how Sir Geoffrey – who is somewhat ironically presently topping-up his tan in the offshore tax haven of Mauritius – spent much of April, May and June in the sun-drenched British Virgin Islands at a luxury £5,300 per week villa, this morning, the Mirror’s Christine Griffin decided to ask his constituents in far bleaker Devon their views about their MP living-it-up with the jetset.

Their responses were clear and amongst them a Tavistock Foodbank volunteer named Brian Eales declared:

“I’ve never seen Geoffrey Cox at the foodbank in support… He’s not been seen recently in the office he’s got in Tavistock.”

“We don’t know what he does with his money do we. I’d like to think that with the sort of money he’s earning he’s making good use of, but he’s not. That’s a different kettle of fish.”

“I’ve voted Conservative before but at the moment I wouldn’t vote for them, no. I’d be interested to find out what he is doing with the money. At the moment it seems to be all ‘self,’ feathering his own nest shall we call it?’”

Going further of the globetrotting Conservative grandee, another foodbank volunteer constituent, Suzanne Weston raged:

“What [Sir Geoffrey Cox is] doing is disgusting, absolutely outrageous and he’s supposedly our MP.”

“He’s earning enough money as it is, and with the best will in the world nobody can do two full-time jobs at once. He can’t be putting his constituency work first while he’s over in the Caribbean, when we’re all having to be careful over here.”

“If I was in the awful position of having to come to the foodbank, I would be so hurt that someone in his position was not being more empathic towards my situation, just through his practical actions.”

Yesterday, the iPaper’s David Parsley reported on having visited Sir Geoffrey Cox’s constituency’s Conservative Club this week. “He’s too posh for us here,” a female member of the club told him, whilst another added: “To be honest my friend, he doesn’t need to show his face round here. A Dartmoor pony could get elected for the Tories here. That would probably make more of an effort to meet the locals too.”

Seeking to defend himself on his very own website, Sir Geoffrey – who took 60.1% of the vote in his constituency in 2019 and whom currently has a majority of 24,992 votes over his Liberal Democrat rival – this week arrogantly declared:

“Sir Geoffrey Cox has practised as a Queen’s Counsel in the courts since well before his election in 2005. He is a leading barrister in England and makes no secret of his professional activities.”

“Sir Geoffrey regularly works 70-hour weeks and always ensures that his casework on behalf of his constituents is given primary importance and fully carried out. Throughout this period, he continued to have online meetings with organisations, businesses and individuals within the constituency and it made no difference where he was for that purpose since it was not practicable or desirable at that time to meet face to face. As to the use of the proxy, prior to his visit to the BVI, he consulted the Chief Whip specifically on this issue and was advised that it was appropriate.”

“Sir Geoffrey’s view is that it is up to the electors of Torridge and West Devon whether or not they vote for someone who is a senior and distinguished professional in his field and who still practices that profession. That has been the consistent view of the local Conservative Association and although at every election his political opponents have sought to make a prominent issue of his professional practice, it has so far been the consistent view of the voters of Torridge and West Devon. Sir Geoffrey is very content to abide by their decision.”

This notorious for his “booming voice” £3,000 per hour man’s arrogance is telling and now it is simply time for Sir Geoffrey Cox to leave public office and return to personally profiting in private.