Hewitt's unhealthy conflict of interest

Former health minister Patricia Hewitt sabotaged Labour's election campaign by calling for a secret ballot on Mr Brown's leadership - raising fears she could be seeking to profit personally from a David Cameron victory.

Ms Hewitt is paid hundreds of pounds an hour by health companies which would rake in huge sums for providing NHS treatment under a Tory government.

Her call for a leadership ballot came days after Conservative leader Mr Cameron launched his Health Manifesto that speaks of "allowing patients to use local pharmacists for services like screening and the treatment of minor ailments."

Ms Hewitt is paid more than £300 an hour for her work as a special consultant to Alliance Boots Services, which runs Boots pharmacists - one of many that has been lobbying for years to run treatments provided by the NHS.

She is also paid £500 an hour as a senior adviser to investment firm Cinven.

The company has bought all of BUPA's private hospitals and its hospital company Spire Healthcare has already siphoned off NHS treatments such as obesity in Yorkshire along with knee and hip replacements in the Midlands.

London Health Emergency chairman Geoff Martin said yesterday: "There is obviously serious concern about the private interest that any politician may have from their actions. It would be an absolute scandal if Ms Hewitt's actions in any way benefit her own position.

"The best thing Ms Hewitt could do would be to keep quiet, as her disastrous tenure as health secretary makes Thatcher's health policies look like a success.

"Former Cabinet members working for the corporate shilling like Ms Hewitt should play no role in fiddling with party politics."

A spokeswoman for health union Unison stressed that Ms Hewitt's position within these private health firms was at odds with Health Minister Andy Burnham's pledge in September that the NHS would be the "preferred provider" over private companies.

However in December the NHS Partners Network, a coalition of private firms chasing NHS money that includes Spire Healthcare, tried to overturn this pledge.

The private firms' complaint could take months but an election victory for Mr Cameron would instantly end Mr Burnham's ruling, since the Tory manifesto states that "any health-care provider" will be able to compete for NHS work.

In a written response to Ms Hewitt and fellow culprit Geoff Hoon regarding their ballot call, back-bench Labour MP Lynne Jones wrote: "I cannot believe that you had the best interest of the Labour Party at heart when you sent out this circular."

And Unison general secretary Dave Prentis pointed out that "neither Hewitt nor Hoon are standing for re-election, so they won't have to live with the consequences of what they have just done."