David Cameron, the former UK prime minster, has taken on new consulting roles, include a position at Illumina, but has been banned from lobbying ministers though July, the BBC reports. Cameron, a member of the Conservative Party, stepped down as prime minister after about six years in 2016, following the European Union referendum.
Cameron's role as consultant and chairman of Illumina's international board was announced last month, and he told the UK Advisory Committee on Business Appointments that it would take up two to three days a month of his time. He said that this role might bring him into contact with some ministers, but that he would not lobby ministers on behalf of Illumina or take part in negotiations between Illumina and Genomics England.
Sky News adds that Genomics England was set up during Cameron's tenure as PM to run the UK's 100,000 Genomes Project, and it says Genomics England now has a £77 million ($107 million) partnership with Illumina. Cameron told ACOBA that he had no direct meetings with Illumina during his tenure as PM, and ACOBA says neither the Cabinet Office nor the Department for Health have concerns about the "propriety of this appointment."
Still, the BBC says the watchdog organization has barred Cameron from lobbying until July 2018 — two years after he left Downing Street — and that he cannot use privileged information he received as PM to benefit Illumina or other firms he is working with.
Cameron also has positions with Alzheimer's Research UK, First Data Corporation, the UK-China Fund, and others.