Grant Shapps was said to be in line for £100,000

A former chairman of the Conservative Party has resigned from a technology company as a report suggested that he had not disclosed that he could benefit financially from advising the business.

Grant Shapps, the MP for Welwyn Hatfield, resigned from a role with Openbrix, a property website that aims to use blockchain, the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, to cut out traditional estate agents. It comes months before the business completes a fundraising drive that could bring in £19 million.

According to his declaration to the parliamentary register of members’ interests, Mr Shapps’s work as chairman of the governance board of Openbrix was classed as unpaid.

However, the Financial Times said that he could have made more than £100,000 from the fundraising. A source