The government has been forced to publish documents that reveal how the disgraced former Conservative MP Owen Paterson directly lobbied a senior minister for a healthcare firm that was paying him to be a consultant.

Paterson contacted Matt Hancock, then health secretary, in the early stages of the Covid pandemic to promote Randox, a healthcare firm that paid him £100,000 a year.

Randox was awarded contracts worth nearly £500m during the pandemic without any other firms being given the opportunity to bid for them.

Randox was awarded contracts worth nearly £500m during the pandemic without any other firms being given the opportunity to bid for them.

The new documents reveal that following Paterson’s lobbying, Hancock chased his officials, saying he was “very worried” about how his department was treating Randox and other firms.