MP Paulette Hamilton apologises for failing to declare a conflict of interest

Questions over MP's honesty

Paulette Hamilton MP (Erdington) has apologised for breaching Birmingham City Council’s code of conduct in her role as a councillor. Hamilton was a director for a housing association while serving in Birmingham City Council’s cabinet.

During her time in the council’s cabinet, she was also involved in the awarding of funding which her housing association received, which she did not disclose her role with. This is a clear conflict of interest which led to her to leave her role as director of Ashley Community Housing.

Image Credit: Birmingham Live

What has angered many is that she has not been disciplined by Birmingham City Council who said it was an ‘error’ and that it was not ‘deliberate’. But many have questioned how someone can use council money to benefit a company they are director of without mentioning it by ‘error’.

This comes alongside Paulette Hamilton not knowing if her family owned home is ‘exempt’ housing despite campaigning against ‘exempt’ housing previously during her role as a councillor. There are many questions over Paulette’s honesty; she failed to declare a conflict of interest and she ‘doesn’t remember’ whether her family owns ‘exempt’ accommodation when she campaigned against it.  

Unfortunately, most of this has come out after the Erdington by-election, meaning voters were not able to make an informed choice on Paulette Hamilton’s character when electing her.

By Jack Dixon