Chiswick's Henry Gewanter arranged for MP expenses leak to Telegraph
The Chiswick man at the centre of the MPs' expenses scandal said he arranged for the information to be leaked 'for the sake of the country'.
Managing Director of PR firm Positive Profile, Henry Gewanter worked with an associate to arrange for the Daily Telegraph to 'acquire' information about MPs' expense claims.
He said, “As soon as he [the House of Commons insider] told me what they had, which was every receipt from every MP from every party going back five years, I knew we were handling dynamite.
“I knew it would be a huge story, I knew it would be tremendously powerful when it got into the public domain.”
Gewanter, who attended last week's expenses reform debate in Chiswick Town Hall, told the BBC's Newsnight he was "extremely proud" of his actions.
He said he did not know the identity of the whistleblower and would not say where they worked adding that several newspapers were approached unsuccessfully before the Telegraph agreed to publish.
Gewanter claims to have not received any financial recompense of his part in revelations because he believed some MPs' behaviour had been “absolutely disgraceful”.
Henry Gewanter is an active member of the Chiswick community and is currently the Treasurer of Chiswick Horticultural Society.
July 15, 2009