Local MP Grant Shapps has faced criticism this week over claims that ‘How to Corp’ a business, co-founded by the Conservative minister, now run by his wife, is selling 'plagiarising' software which helps firms boost profits by breaching Google's rules.
The story, first appearing in the Guardian claimed that using “Michael Green” as an alias and casting himself as an internet marketing guru, Shapps in 2007 claimed audiences could "make $20,000 in 20 days guaranteed or your money back" – if they spent $200 buying his bespoke software.
In 2008 Shapps transferred his share of the company to his wife, Belinda. The family business continues to offer online tool-kits such as Michael Green's "How To Bounce Back From Recession".
When contacted by the Guardian, a spokesman for Shapps denied the minister set up the business, saying it was "always a partnership between Mr and Mrs Shapps" which began in 2000.
The claims unleashed widespread derision and questioning on the social media site Twitter, though Mr Shapps kept a stony silence throughout.
Then on Tuesday, after intense speculation that he would be named the new Conservative party chairman, Number 10 finally confirmed that the Local MP would be joining the Cabinet proper as party chairman, after holding the Housing Portfolio since the Coalition took power.
Reacting to the story locally, Cllr Kieran Thorpe from Welwyn Hatfield Labour Party said “I was fairly shocked to see this story come up now, and wondered if some of Grant’s cabinet colleagues may have been desperately trying to prevent him from taking their place.”
“Ultimately though, looking at the Conservative Parliamentary Party its clear that dodgy business dealings and a terrible departmental track record are exactly the characteristics this Prime Minister values and wants within his Cabinet”