MP Jess Phillips employs her husband as office manager

Birmingham MP Jess Phillips has employed her husband in the capacity of office manager and is of course paid by the taxpayer.

Mrs Phillips, who is the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, pays husband Tom Phillips to be her Constituency Support Manager. Many may cite a potential conflict of interest from this move.

The details of this employment are revealed online in the register of members’ interests which is accessible to any member of the public. 

Mrs Phillips told the Birmingham mail “I am in the process of setting up my office and I need somebody I can trust to do that.

He has all the skills I need to do that. It’s about setting up the office, making sure the IT works and I need someone with the skills to do that.” Tom Phillips was previously a lift engineer.

What specialist skills does her husband have as a lift engineer?