Emails reveal peer's role in asking minister to Lords commercial event

New documents reveal the extent of a Labour peer's involvement in organising the attendance of a minister at a commercial event in parliament.

- Henry Dyer Rob Evans

Emails show David Evans contacted officials working closely with Sharon Taylor, a housing minister in the House of Lords, who was to be the keynote speaker at an event on housing that Lord Evans of Watford was hosting in parliament.

Evans is under formal investigation by the Lords watchdog after Guardian stories revealed his involvement in an apparent cash-for-access venture. He hosted commercial events in parliament, similar to the one to which he invited Taylor, on behalf of his son Richard's company. Lord Evans owns a one-third shareholding in the business.

Taylor pulled out of the event after she was contacted by the Guardian.

Evans has previously told the Guardian he has not breached the Lords code of conduct, or taken any personal benefit.

The documents, released under freedom of information laws, provide further details on how Evans contacted Taylor's private secretary in her ministerial office on 4 February. Copied into the email was an address, redacted in the document, at Octavius GB Ltd, his son's company.

Evans wrote: "Baroness Sharon Taylor kindly asked me to contact you regarding my invitation for her to be our keynote speaker at a prestigious event that I am hosting on the 12th June 2025.