For the former, he worked as a paid consultant for at least £100,000 per year, and lobbied to secure government COVID-19 contracts worth nearly £600 million without competitive bidding.[12][13][14] The Financial Times described the by-election campaign as "dominated by criticism of the prime minister" after Boris Johnson's "botched attempt to save Paterson opened up accusations of tolerating 'sleaze' in his government."[15] The Liberal Democrats focused their campaign on this.[16][17] She was elected on 16 December with a majority of 5,925 (15.6%) on a swing of 34.1% from the Conservative Party.