Even on the briefest trip to London, a visitor is likely to encounter The London Evening Standard, a free daily newspaper handed out at public transport hubs across the capital, owned by the Russian Lebedev family. With a daily circulation of over 8,00,000, it is the U.K.’s fourth most read paper. Last week came the surprise revelation that George Osborne, the former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer who stepped down after the referendum last June, had been appointed the paper’s editor. He is set to take up the position in May, and said he would lead his team of journalists to give a “voice to all Londoners”.

The announcement has caused quite a stir: not so much because of Mr. Osborne’s clear political leaning but because of the fundamental question it has raised about parliamentarians’ ability to take on additional jobs. Mr. Osborne, in addition to being an MP for Tatton (a constituency in the northwest of England, some 160 miles from central London), works for asset manager BlackRock for which he is paid £1,62,500 a quarter (plus equity) as well a sizeable sum for speaking engagement globally.

Under current rules, politicians are able to hold even prominent positions outside their parliamentary work, and many do so — registers of members’ interests highlight the diverse nature of the roles from lawyers to doctors, academics and consultants for financial institutions and investment funds. Politicians have long had links to the media too. The current Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, remained an MP for some of the time he edited the influential conservative magazine The Spectator, while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has recently taken up a weekly column for the Glaswegian tabloid, The Daily Record.

Under the spotlight

Lawmakers’ role outside Parliament has come under the spotlight in previous years. In 2015, former Prime Minister David Cameron rejected calls for a ban on such work, following a controversy involving a newspaper sting operation conducted on two former Foreign Secretaries who lobbied for a fictitious Chinese company. At the time, he concluded that the scrutiny system was suitably robust to prevent conflicts of interest. Defendants of MPs’ second jobs have pointed out that MPs who are members of the Cabinet, or the shadow Cabinet, by necessity have other roles, while others have argued that second jobs can help MPs bring experience from other walks of life.

Mr. Osborne has defended himself along these lines. “This Parliament is enhanced when we have people of different experience taking part in our robust debates,” he told lawmakers this week. Now, with the controversy refusing to die down, changes to the rules are on the horizon. Over 1,83,000 people have signed a petition on the campaigning site 38degrees, calling for him to pick one job or the other, while another campaign gained momentum on Twitter. On Monday, MPs too debated the issue with several warning that it could undermine the already shaky confidence in politicians. Others pointed to the conflict between a paper overtly devoted to the interests of London and Mr. Osborne’s own north-western constituency.

Still, The Evening Standard’s owners remain firm on their choice, insisting that Conservatives were concerned that he would be too tough on the government (Mr. Osborne campaigned against Brexit), while the Opposition insisted he wouldn’t be tough enough. Evgeny Lebedev tweeted: “Frankly @George_Osborne will provide more effective opposition to the government than the current Labour party. And will stand up for the interests of London and Londoners.”