SENIOR Conservatives in West Devon were last night closing ranks around under-fire MP Sir Geoffrey Cox who has come in for criticism over reports he earned almost £900,000 outside Parliament.

Former Attorney General Sir Geoffrey is said to have earned the cash as a lawyer, including travelling to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to give advice on an inquiry into corruption.

Revelations over how much the Torridge and West Devon MP made during a year have led to Labour calling for an inquiry into his second job. While there is no suggestion Sir Geoffrey has broken any rules as he declared his earnings on the Register of Members Interests, Labour chair Anneliese Dodds, in a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: ‘It seems Sir Geoffrey took advantage of covid-related parliamentary rules and flew out to the BVI to vote by proxy from the other side of the Atlantic. The irony is not lost on me that he arrived in the Caribbean on the day that those MPs who actually feel a sense of duty to their constituents were debating global anti-corruption standards. The people of Torridge and West Devon must be wondering if Geoffrey Cox is a Caribbean-based barrister or a Conservative MP.’

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said MPs should be ‘visible in their constituencies and available to help constituents with their constituency matters’ and added: ‘If they’re not doing that, they’re not doing their job and will rightly be judged on that by their constituents.’

While Sir Geoffrey did not respond to a request for a comment, senior West Devon Conservatives, including county councillors Philip Sanders and Debo Sellis, insisted that the MP was doing the best job he could for his constituents. Cllr Sanders said: ‘I don’t have any concerns about what Geoffrey does or did. I have to say I have never heard of any criticism from constituents over what he does for them and in fact people are complimentary.’