Tory peer tabled questions about vaping before working for manufacturer

A Tory peer and vice-president of the Local Government Association tabled parliamentary questions on the regulation of vapes before becoming a paid adviser to a big Chinese producer to the UK that is popular with children.
Lord Porter of Spalding is among six members appointed to an advisory board formed this year by HG Innovation, a Hong Kong-based company behind the market-leading brands Lost Mary and Elf Bar.
Other advisers of HG Innovation, which manufactures in China, include George Eustice, a former Conservative environment secretary, and Lord Walney, a former adviser to Gordon Brown.
The vapes industry is facing a clampdown from the government amid concerns the products appeal to young people rather than just helping tobacco smokers to quit.
• Revealed: the hidden scale of children vaping in school
Ministers are reviewing whether to restrict disposable vapes and the King’s Speech in July included plans to stop vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children by regulating flavours, packaging and displays.Elf Bar and Lost Mary are two of the three most popular disposable vape brands among 11 to 17-year-olds in Britain, according to research this year by Action on Smoking and Health, the charity.
Combined the two brands had more than a third of the legal UK vapes market last year, according to figures from Euromonitor.
Lord Porter, who spent his career in local government leadership and was until July a non-executive director at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, tabled two parliamentary questions on vapes in February last year.
In the first he asked what assessment the government had made of Trading Standards’ powers to regulate the sale of vaping products and tackle illicit vaping tobacco products.Later that month Lord Porter tabled another question asking about any government plans to strengthen regulatory powers over the sale of vaping products to children.HG Innovation and Capital Counsel, a lobbying firm working for the company, have links throughout the industry and parliament, research by The Times has also found.Lord Porter is also a director of CleanStreets, which through members of the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA) funds campaigns for tackling smoking-related litter. Giles Roca, the former head of the TMA, runs Capital Counsel.
The firm’s clients are HG Innovation, formerly called IMiracle, and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Responsible Vaping.
Capital Counsel helps provide the parliamentary group’s secretariat and Lord Walney is among the members of the group, according to its website.
The parliamentary group recently began an inquiry into vaping, including government measures on flavours, packaging, display, excise and a ban on some vaping products.
Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “HG Innovation want now to be seen as responsible — and they are certainly responsible for the level of youth vaping in this country given it is their heavily marketed products that most appeal to children.
“Government needs to get on with new legislation that will create a much more robust regulatory framework for vaping products but should think very carefully about whether engaging with companies like HG Innovation or their proxies will add any value to that process.”
She added: “It should raise eyebrows that Lord Porter tabled questions that served the interest of a company he later went on to have a paid role with. He has existing ties with the tobacco industry via the TMA and has been involved in other APPGs with tobacco industry links.”
Contacted about his parliamentary questions in light of his paid advisory role at HG Innovation, Lord Porter said: “The questions came about from my conversations with connections from my time at the Local Government Association, after I finished as chairman and before I became a vice-president.
“They were tabled a year before the board was set up in January 2024 and at the time of tabling the questions I didn’t know anyone in the vaping world although I was a fan of the concept of using them to get people off of smoking.”
Lord Porter’s work with HG Innovation has been declared in the Lords’ register of interests.
Lord Walney was approached for comment on whether his role as an adviser to HG Innovation conflicted with the independence of the parliamentary group’s work.
Roca said there “is no conflict of interest” as Walney’s work for HG Innovation had been declared under the Lords’ code of conduct and “therefore there is no breach”, and added: “With respect to Lord Walney’s role in the APPG for responsible vaping, there is no provision in the code of conduct preventing members from participating in an APPG in which they may have an interest. Therefore, this does not engage the code of conduct.”
Other advisers on HG Innovation’s board include Steve Bennett, a former director of investigations at the National Crime Agency, and Susie Kemp, a former chief executive of Swindon Borough Council.
Roca said that with regards to a possible government ban on disposable vapes “there are concerns regarding enforcement and the need for clarity on which products will remain available for adult smokers post-ban”. He said restrictions on flavours “must be carefully assessed” as they could lead to adult vapers reverting to cigarettes.
But he added that HG Innovation “does not market products to children and has put in place measures to reinforce this, including undertaking no marketing on channels that may be viewed by young people such as TikTok. Elf Bar has also removed descriptors and flavours that again may appeal to young people, and this is being rolled out by Lost Mary.”
And he said that HG Innovations’ support for “more responsible” retailing of vapes, included the introduction of retail licensing, “a proportionate” vape tax that does not dissuade adult smokers from switching from tobacco; an end to the use of “inappropriate” imagery and language on packaging and descriptors; “safeguards” around in-store displays, such as behind the counter; and a ban on vending machines selling vapes.