Grant Shapps admits mistake over pseudonym

The Labour party has stepped up pressure on Conservative chairman Grant Shapps by writing to David Cameron to demand an immediate investigation into whether the he breached the codes of conduct for ministers and MPs over his use of a psuedonym.

Downing Street said the prime minister continues to have full confidence in Mr Shapps, after it was revealed that he continued working as a marketer of get-rich-quick schemes under the pseudonym Michael Green after entering Parliament – something he had emphatically denied only weeks ago.

The Tory chairman attends Cabinet as minister without portfolio, and last month denied that he had continued to work as an internet marketer after being elected in 2005.

He told LBC radio: “To be absolutely clear I don’t have a second job and I have never had a second job whilst being an MP. End of story.”

He had previously denied to Channel 4 News in in 2012 that he had used false testimonials for his marketing.

‘Old story’

But a recording obtained by The Guardian captures the MP in 2006 selling business self-help guide Stinking Rich 3 and claiming his products could make listeners a “ton of cash by Christmas”.

Mr Shapps initially dismissed the issue as an “old story”, but the Conservatives said that although the chairman had talked of his writing career having ended when he became an MP “in fact it ended shortly afterwards”.

The BBC later reported that Mr Shapps told its correspondent he had “screwed up” on dates and stated his case “over-firmly” in the LBC interview.

A Conservative party spokesman said: “Like many authors and journalists, Grant wrote with a pen name.

“This was completely transparent: his full name and biographical details were permanently published on the company’s main website.

“Given that this was a decade ago, and was mentioned during the cut and thrust of an interview, he referenced that his writing career had ended when he became an MP, in fact it ended shortly afterwards.”