The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has “formally corrected the record” in parliament for referring to himself as a former solicitor during a 2014 speech.
During a debate on high-speed rail, Reynolds had said he “worked as a solicitor in Manchester city centre” before changing careers.
On Wednesday evening, he told the House of Commons: “I should have made clear that specifically that was a reference at the time of being a trainee solicitor.
“This was an inadvertent error and although this speech was over a decade ago, as it has been brought to my attention, I would like to formally correct the record.”
He had already written to Keir Starmer to apologise for his mistake.
The term “solicitor” is legally protected and it is an offence for someone to call themselves a solicitor if they are not qualified and registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
In January, the SRA wrote to Reynolds, the MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, after becoming aware that his LinkedIn profile listed one of his former jobs as “solicitor”. He had also been accused of describing himself as a solicitor on a constituency website that is no longer online.
The error on the LinkedIn profile was corrected and the SRA said it had decided not to take further action because “there is no need”.
But in February, after the shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, accused Reynolds of “criminal conduct” and wrote to the SRA demanding a new inquiry, the SRA reopened its investigation into allegations the business secretary had incorrectly claimed to have worked as a solicitor.
At the time, the regulator would not say why it had changed its position, only that it had “now become aware of further information”.
Last month, Reynolds told the Guardian that “over a decade ago” he had “used shorthand” in a speech that was “not a speech about the legal profession or legal regulation or the law”.
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He added: “I apologise for that, but again, I don’t think anyone would have interpreted that in any way that I was misrepresenting myself professionally.
“And I just want to be absolutely clear, for a speech, I think, and I think a tweet or maybe a Facebook post over a decade ago – I don’t think it’s a huge deal, but I should apologise for that if anyone has misunderstood that, but I don’t think they have.”
He criticised the “personal attacks” from the Conservatives, which he said were designed to “distract the government”.
