Charnwood MP Stephen Dorrell has defended himself after a doctor called on him to quit.
In an attack on the front page of the Daily Mirror today cancer specialist Clive Peedell attacked the Conservative MP - who is standing down in May - over a new part-time job he has started with accountancy giant KPMG.
His job is to help the company get a contract to manage medical records and it comes six months after Mr Dorrell quit as chairman of the House of Commons Health Select Committee.
Dr Peedell told the Mirror there was a conflict of interests and that the case "demonstrates everything that is rotten about our political system".
He added: "This makes it clear why Mr Dorrell suddenly resigned as chair of the Health Select Committee. Clearly a better offer came his way."
But Mr Dorrell told the Mercury he had no idea the KPMG offer would come up when he stood down from the health committee in June and said nothing about the KPMG offer had influenced any of his decisions.
He said: "The approach was after I left the committee.
"KPMG approached me and asked me if I would be interested in the role.
"I stepped down from the health committee because I'd done four years in that role and I wanted to develop new interests.
"If you'd asked me then if I thought I'd work for KPMG I'd have said it would be very unlikely."
When asked why he was not standing down immediately he said there was no conflict of interest between being a backbench MP and having a part-time job.
He said: "I've always thought that when you're not a minister it's important to have interests outside the House of Commons.
"I've always been open about that."
