MPs pocket £13m from ‘second jobs’ with Theresa May and Sajid Javid leading the pack amid raging cost-of-living crisis

The Conservative government abandoned in March plans to limit MPs’ earnings from any paid work they do outside their parliamentary role.

Recent controversies such as the Own Paterson lobbying scandal had seen MP’s second jobs brought into disrepute. 

Interested in MPs’ external earnings, an analysis of the latest data from the UK Parliament to establish which MPs have earned the most from employment opportunities gained outside of their parliamentary role/salary between the period of 2019 – 2022.

Turns out, Geoffrey Cox is the MP earning the most from ‘second jobs’.

Cox is the MP who has made the most money outside of their parliamentary role of serving the constituency of Torridge and West Devon, the analysis by TopRatedCasinos.co.uk showed.

A qualified barrister, Geoffrey Cox has banked an astonishing £1,835,399.89 from external employment. One of his most notable roles was providing legal services to Withers LLP, who in turn paid him £703,311.05 for 633 hours of work between 25th January to 31st December 2021 for them.

Theresa May

In second position is former Prime Minister Theresa May, who has enjoyed a sizable £1,564,076.00 from work done outside of her parliamentary role of serving the constituency of Maidenhead. 

Quite the dancer, it also seems she is quite the talker, with all her external income coming from ‘speaking engagements’.

Her speaking engagements include £46,750 from Telmex Foundation for a six-hour virtual talk and £38,220 from the Pension Real Estate Association for a four-hour virtual talk.

Sajid Javid

Sajid Javid, the current Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is in third place. The former Managing Director of Deutsche Bank has benefited from a financial injection of £758,670.00 from work conducted outside of his role of representing the constituency of Bromsgrove. Banks have certainly been keen to acquire his expertise, highlighted by HSBC paying him £30,000 for a pair of speeches totalling four-hours. 

Labour MP Dan Jarvis (£693,775.00) and Conservative MP Fiona Bruce (£575,686.01) are among the other MPs’ earning more than £500,000 from employment attained outside of their parliamentary role, respectively ranking fourth and fifth.

Boris Johnson: The current Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pocketed £30,629.91 from work completed outside of his parliamentary role. All of his earnings from external employment have come from royalties paid to him for the books he has written/published.

Keir Starmer: The current Leader of the Opposition (Labour) Keir Starmer has made £41,127.46 from jobs fulfilled outside of his parliamentary responsibilities.

Most of the £41K has been through giving legal advice. In 2020, he collected £23,393.08 for providing 89 hours of legal advice. 

(Out of) Order Order!

Overall, from the 319 MPs that were found to be making money from employment outside of their parliamentary role: 187 from the Conservative Party, 88 from the Labour Party, 23 from the Scottish National Party (SNP), 8 from Liberal Democrat, 4 from Democratic Unionist, 3 Independent, 2 from the Alba Party, 1 from the Green Party, 1 from the Social Democratic and Labour Party, 1 from Plaid Cymru and 1 from Sinn Fein.  

Collectively, from their second jobs: the 187 Conservative MPs have made = £10,890,250.44, the 88 Labour MPs have made = £1,610,221.82, the 23Scottish National Party (SNP) MPs have made = £119,777.56, the 8 Liberal Democrat MPs have made = £308,046.91, the 4 Democratic Unionist MPs have made = £7,920, the 3 Independent MPs have made = £5,642.22, the 2 Alba Party MPs have made = £1,160, the 1 Green Party MP has made = £4,300, the 1 Social Democratic and Labour Party MP has made = £320, the 1 Plaid Cymru MP has made = £1,326.21 and the 1 Sinn Fein MP has made = £168,192. For all 319 MPs, that is a grand total of £13,117,157.16.

“Given the economic uncertainty and ever-increasing cost of living, MPs have come under huge fire for receiving a pay rise of £2,212 to their already generous parliamentary salary of £81,932.” said Daniel Bennett, Head of Operations at TopRatedCasinos.co.uk.

“As a lot of people battle price hikes to food, petrol, and energy amid little to no pay rise, it signifies the disparity between MPs and the people they are appointed to serve.”

He added: “This disparity is further heightened when assessing the obscure sums MPs are pocketing from jobs undertaken outside of their parliamentary role.”

“Whilst some MPs are making significantly more than others when it comes to this front, it does bring into disrepute the integrity and righteousness of MPs in these very turbulent times for normal citizens,” Bennett concluded.