EXCLUSIVE Speaker Lindsay Hoyle embroiled in new row after giving ex-lobbyist pass for Commons - with access to the highest-ranking politicians and officials in Westminster By DAVID CHURCHILL and NEIL SEARS Published: 23:01, 14 March 2025 | Updated: 23:04, 14 March 2025 e-mail 1 View comments Lindsay Hoyle was last night embroiled in a new row after recruiting a former lobbyist who gave him several all-expenses-paid junkets. The Commons Speaker appointed Albert Poggio as an adviser and gave him a parliamentary pass, allowing him access to Commons libraries, bars and restaurants and the highest-ranking politicians and officials in Westminster. While Gibraltar's representative in London , Mr Poggio, 79, arranged several trips for Sir Lindsay and other MPs to 'the Rock'.
It comes amid deepening questions about the Speaker's other foreign jaunts, which have left taxpayers to pick up a £250,000 bill in the past two years alone. The appointment of Mr Poggio, a Gibraltarian businessman and political consultant, was never publicly announced but he is listed as the 'Speaker's Adviser on OTs (overseas territories)' in pamphlets produced by Sir Lindsay's office and unearthed by the Mail. The Speaker's office confirmed Mr Poggio was made an adviser in 2021 and that it provided him with a pass, which he is said to use regularly.
It is not suggested that Mr Poggio has done anything wrong. Critics last night said it was 'hard to see' why the appointment was necessary and questioned whether.