Reform UK MPs have raked in more than £1m in earnings from second jobs and other incomes since they were first elected to parliament last year, The Independent can reveal.
Parliamentary data shows that party leader Nigel Farage, along with Lee Anderson and deputy leader Richard Tice have declared total combined supplementary earnings of around £1,035,000 on top of their MP salaries, alongside gifts, paid-for trips and donations.
“MPs are there to represent all their constituents, and the country as a whole. For them to have other interests can potentially be a problem; being an MP is generally considered a full time job,” Dr Andrew Blick, head of political economy at King's College London, told The Independent.
Mr Farage has taken home the most, declaring £872,000 in cash payments for a range of outside jobs, including his show on GB News, speaking engagements and £189,000 to be a brand ambassador for gold bullion. That figure rises to £928,000 when including gifts and trips abroad, such as gifted travel and accommodation during US president Donald Trump’s inauguration.
This makes Mr Farage the biggest earner in this Parliament, alongside his £93,000 MP salary, while the three’s earnings combined account for nearly a fifth – £1 million – of all MP earnings from second jobs.
Responding to the figures, Mr Farage told The Independent: “If you can find an MP that works longer hours, I will pay for lunch.”
Last year, Commons leader Lucy Powell said that Labour would restrict MPs’ capacity to take on additional work, in particular lobbying or advisory roles, while the party has previously pledged to ban MPs from having second jobs. However, neither policy has come to fruition.
“An MP’s job first and foremost should be to serve their constituents not pursue outside interests,” Ms Powell told The Independent, adding that the Standards Committee is currently considering further restrictions on MPs’ outside interests.
Conservative MPs received more than any other party in regular earnings and one-off payments, during this parliamentary term, totalling nearly £2.8m. This averages to around £23,000 per person across 120 Tory MPs.
By comparison, Labour MPs have taken just £679,000 in cash for non-parliamentary work, averaging just £1,700 per person across 399 Labour MPs.
Mr Anderson, Reform’s MP for Boston and Skegness, has earned £126,000 on top of his MP salary, in earnings, gifts and donations.
The majority of this comes from his role as a presenter on GB News, which pays £100,000 a year and takes eight hours out of his week.
Mr Anderson has also received £3,871 from monetising his social media account on X, in a deal that sees him receive payments from the tech giant for posts that reach a certain number of followers.
Reform’s deputy leader Richard Tice has also declared £5,770 in payments from X, while receiving around £10,270 each quarter in income from his string of rental properties.
The businessman and former property investor remains a shareholder of Quidnet Capital, a property asset management group.
Reform’s newest MP, Sarah Pochin, who represents the Runcorn and Helsby seat, is the only Reform MP to so far not declare any other earnings since she was elected in a by-election in May.
Though Mr Farage is by far the largest-earning MP in parliament, the Reform leader is not the only one cashing in from side hustles.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak has taken home £546,000 in one-off payments since last the general election; with hefty payments for speaking at public events and for a senior advisor role at Goldman Sachs.
Another Conservative member, Sir Geoffrey Cox KC, has long topped the list of secondary earnings due to his work as a barrister.
According to his declared register payments, Sir Geoffrey has earned around £390,000 in one-off payments and £318,000 from his employment at Withers LLP and Thomas More Chambers - working with clients including the government of Mauritius - a total of around £707,000.
Meanwhile, George Freeman, MP for Mid Norfolk, declared an estimated £194,000 in secondary earnings since last July, with ongoing salaries from at least nine different advisory positions.
The highest-paid Labour MP is Yuan Yang, who took home an additional £74,615 in earnings from her book, Private Revolutions, which she completed before entering Parliament.
Some of the declared payments may be for work carried out before the election, but have been listed as they were received since 4 July and therefore must be declared on the parliamentary register of interests.
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