What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A third senior Tory has been linked to a firm slammed by MPs for its ties to Vladimir Putin .

Ex-Tory party chair and former boss of the BBC Chris Patten is the director of a City recruitment firm which has been hired by Russian energy giant En+, the Daily Mirror can reveal.

The Foreign Affairs Select Committee has raised serious concerns about En+, which is “controlled by billionaire and Kremlin associate Oleg Deripaska”.

The revelation comes after we exposed links between two other senior Tories - ex-Tory Energy minister Lord Barker and ex-Tory leader Lord Hague - and En+.

Last month’s damning FASC report on Russian “dirty money” in the UK came just weeks after Donald Trump slapped sanctions on En+ and Mr Deripaska - a close ally of President Putin - in the wake of the Salisbury plot to kill Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

The Mirror can reveal that in a bid to free itself of these US sanctions, En+ has hired City headhunting firm Russell Reynolds to search for new independent directors.

(Image: REUTERS)

Lord Patten - a former chairman of the BBC - sits on the board of Russell Reynolds as a non-executive director.

Our investigation into Russia and the Tories previously revealed another senior Tory - Greg Barker - had been appointed chairman of En+.

We have unearthed how it was Lord Barker who appointed Russell Reynolds to help En+ in its hunt for new directors.

Both Lord Barker and Lord Patten sit in the House of Lords. Lord Patten insists he had “no awareness of this project for En+”.

The Mirror previously revealed that William Hague - also a Tory peer in the Lords - is raking in cash from a law firm linked to Vladimir Putin.

(Image: PA)

The millionaire ex-Tory leader is chairman of the International Advisory Group at legal giant Linklaters, which was criticised for refusing to answer questions from MPs over its involvement in last year’s London flotation of En+.

There is no suggestion that any of the three Tory peers are in breach of the Lords’ Code of Conduct.

Approached for comment, Lord Patten, 74, said: “I am indeed a member of the board of directors of Russell Reynolds’ parent company based in New York.

“I have no involvement in the day to day operations of Russell Reynolds, and have no awareness of this project for En+, nor do I recall having ever met someone associated with En+.”

However, Tom Brake MP, Lib Dem International Trade spokesman, said our findings raised “alarming” new questions about Russian influence in the UK.

(Image: AFP)

He added: “How deep do these Tory connections with firms linked to Vladimir Putin go? Whose interests do these Tory Peers really have at heart?

“Lord Patten might claim that he knew nothing about En+ project, but now this information has been brought out of the shadows, he should be questioning the morality of Russell Reynolds’ actions and his relationship with them.”

Russian expert Oliver Bullough, author of global corruption and tax evasion book MONEYLAND, added: “This just shows how it will be all impossible to drive questionable Russian money out of the City.

“Lawyers, accountants, bankers, head hunters have been earning a good living from this money, and it’s going to be very hard to persuade them to stop, particularly if they’re sitting in our House of Lords.”

Russell Reynolds’ HQ in New York confirmed to The Mirror it had been appointed by En+ chairman Lord Barker “to identify potential independent directors” for En+ but distanced itself from Mr Deripaska.

A Russell Reynolds spokeswoman said: “In response to your enquiry to Lord Patten of Barnes, we wanted to advise you that Russell Reynolds has been appointed by the independent chairman of En+, Lord Barker, to identify potential independent directors should the US Treasury sanctions be lifted against En+.

“We are working under authorisation of the US Treasury and, for the avoidance of any doubt, we are not working with Mr Deripaska.”