Conservative defence minister joins Peter Thiel’s Palantir

Calls for action as trio of ex-defence ministers take up lucrative private sector jobs, including with US spy tech firm that’s helping Trump deport migrants

Peter here. British politics right now could be summed up in a single word: ‘Reform’.

Nigel Farage’s party had major wins last week. Reform also clearly spent big. I know from talking to journalists that Reform had an unprecedented ground operation ahead of the Runcorn by-election, and was very visible on the streets in many local contests.

So who paid for all this? The answer is, we don’t know. During general elections, political donations are published weekly. But there are no such rules for by-elections or local elections. Which means it will be months before we have even an outline of who bankrolled Reform’s successes.

We think this should change - what do you think?

Peter Thiel, the spy tech firm and the Tory defence minister

By Fin Johnston and Lucas Amin

A one time Conservative defence minister is a paid advisor for Palantir, the controversial spy-tech firm founded by Donald Trump donor Peter Thiel, Democracy for Sale can reveal.

Palantir has been accused of failing to conduct human rights due diligence. The firm was recently handed a $30 million contract for software to help US Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) track and deport migrants.

Now public documents show that recently departed Tory defence minister Leo Docherty joined Palantir in February as a paid advisor.

Docherty - whose role is described as advising on ‘AI trends and geopolitical risk’ - was minister in charge of “digital services for the armed forces” before losing his seat in July’s general election.

Docherty’s appointment was approved by Acoba, the standards watchdog on business appointments that was described as “toothless” by its own chair as it has no power to sanction former ministers who break its rules.

Palantir has close ties to the centre of Trump's White House. Thiel, who once said he no longer believes that freedom and democracy are compatible, has donated $15 million to JD Vance’s political campaigns after making billions alongside Elon Musk at PayPal in the 2000s.

One of Palantir’s co-founders, Joe Lonsdale, “played a central role in setting up and staffing Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency”, according to the FT.

Although described as a data analytics business, Palantir has become increasingly involved in defence work. The firm’s £400million worth of UK government contracts include an £80 million contract with the Ministry of Defence’s ‘Defence Digital’ unit that was “not advertised”.

Docherty’s work for Palantir has prompted a Labour MP to call for the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the US firm’s operations in the UK.

“The business model of Palantir needs significant scrutiny,” Labour MP Rachael Maskell told Democracy for Sale. “Such a company will only engage a former Tory minister, if it believes that this buys access and opportunity and leads to greater influence, power or profit.”

Leo Docherty - from defence minister to Palantir advisor

Docherty joins a slew of senior British public figures who have joined the Palantir payroll, including former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson, ex-Ministry of Defence strategy director Polly Scully and former Mi6 head, Sir John Sawers.

Keir Starmer visited Palantir’s Washington, DC office in February during a trip to see Donald Trump. The visit was reportedly fixed by the ambassador Peter Mandelson, whose lobbying firm Global Counsel has represented Palantir.

Docherty - who also worked in the foreign office previously - is not the only former Conservative minister who has taken a lucrative private sector role ahead of an expected surge in defence contracts to meet Starmer’s pledge to increase spending on defence to 2.5% of GDP by 2027.

According to our analysis, three former Tory defence ministers who left Parliament last year have taken jobs in the weapons industry so far this year.

This has sparked concerns about a “revolving door” between the MoD and defence companies. Transparency International’s Francesca Grandi said that: “as defence budgets grow, the UK needs clear, enforceable standards to ensure trust, transparency, and accountability are at the heart of defence policy.”

“When former defence ministers and senior officials move into roles closely tied to their past responsibilities, there is a real risk of misusing privileged information and preferential access for personal or commercial gain” Grandi added.

Docherty’s role at Palantir was approved by the Advisory Council on Business Appointments (Acoba), which gave the appointment the green light as long as Docherty does not lobby government on Palantir’s behalf or advise the firm on contract bids for two years.

Acoba also approved two other high profile former defence ministers' new private sector roles: Penny Mordaunt, who served as defence secretary under Theresa May, has taken a job as chair at military boat builder SubSea Craft, while former defence procurement minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan has worked with German defence-tech firm Helsing.

While working as a foreign minister last year, Trevelyan made enquiries “on behalf of Helsing regarding a delay to the outcome of an export licence application,” according to Acoba, although there was no “evidence that this inquiry resulted in a change to the process or outcome.”

Trevelyan will help Helsing expand into Australia, a country that was part of her foreign office portfolio while she worked as minister for the Indo-Pacific.

Helsing, which is planning to mass produce AI powered drones in the UK, also hired the former head of the UK Army General Sir Nick Carter in February last year.

A spokesperson for Helsing said that Trevelyan is not employed by the firm “but was contracted for a short-term project,” adding that “Helsing and its advisers comply with all government regulations.”

The volume of former defence ministers and civil servants moving into the private sector should focus attention once again on Westminster’s weak lobbying rules.

Last summer Acoba’s former chair Eric Pickles called on the government to change the rules on business appointments, saying “the system is bust and needs fixing.”

Keir Starmer promised to establish a new ethics and integrity commission to clean up Whitehall. Ministers who breached lobbying rules would face sanctions that they “can feel in their pockets”, Labour said while in opposition.

But, almost a year into office, Labour has yet even to put forward proposals for this ethics and integrity commission - leaving former defence ministers free to sell their contacts and experience to the highest bidder.

Democracy for Sale believes that we need to act now to clean up our politics - before it really is too late. If don’t already, please support us to help make this happen.

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