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A recent analysis has revealed that several Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK have been dedicating a significant amount of time to secondary jobs. Since the beginning of the 2024 parliamentary session, seven MPs have committed an average of one working day per week to outside employment, such as television presenting, legal services, and consulting roles.
According to a report from The Guardian, these seven MPs accumulated at least 300 hours of outside work since July, which equates to approximately eight hours each week. In total, their combined external employment hours surpassed 3,000. Additionally, another group of seven MPs reported spending at least five hours a week on second jobs.
Leading the list is Nigel Farage, who has earned more than any of his parliamentary colleagues from his additional roles. The leader of Reform UK disclosed that he averages about 24 hours per week engaged in various activities, including work as a cameo creator, GB News presenter, media commentator, public speaker, journalist for The Telegraph, brand ambassador, and social media influencer.
Farage’s attendance in parliament reflects his outside commitments; he has only participated in one-third of parliamentary votes thus far, while the average MP has voted approximately 72% of the time, as reported by the Public Whip. This data does not account for abstentions, indicating that MPs might have been present but chose not to vote on specific issues.
Another MP, George Freeman from the Conservative Party, has been spending an average of 11.5 hours per week in advisory roles related to science and technology for private companies since July. He clarified that his hours of outside work are a mere fraction of the 60 hours he previously dedicated as a minister of state.
Freeman stated, “Our parliament has always encouraged MPs with outside experience – whether as doctors, nurses, trade unionists or in my case helping UK science startup ventures, rather than professional politicians.” He emphasized that his outside responsibilities do not detract from his dedication to his constituency work, where he generally invests about 70 hours per week over six days.
Other MPs with substantial outside work include Lee Anderson of Reform UK, contributing an average of 10.5 hours weekly as a presenter on GB News and interacting on social media platform X. Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox KC has logged approximately 9 hours and 22 minutes a week in legal work since last July, while John Hayes has recorded 8 hours and 48 minutes weekly across various roles, including a professor, lecturer, and strategic adviser.
Labour MP James Naish reported an average of 8 hours and 47 minutes a week of outside employment but reduced his hours significantly in his role as a director for a property sales company at the end of August. Carla Lockhart of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) also reported about 8 hours of work weekly on her farm in County Fermanagh.
The Guardian’s analysis calculated the total hours that MPs reported for ad-hoc payments and assessed ongoing employment hours. It’s noteworthy that many MPs might provide higher estimates for the hours recorded, and they could potentially work additional hours during parliamentary recesses.
In response to the situation, Labour peer Prem Sikka has advocated for a comprehensive ban on secondary jobs for MPs, arguing that to foster a better society, MPs must focus solely on their parliamentary responsibilities. He noted, “People hire MPs not because they have some special knowhow or skills, but because they open doors for them which other people can’t and give them access to policymakers.”
This analysis did not include the hours MPs spent on other elected positions. It was found that an additional 27 MPs were working an average of one business day per week as councillors since their election to the Commons, some declaring close to 30 hours weekly in council responsibilities. An investigation by ITV News highlighted that 26 MPs continued to juggle their parliamentary positions with local roles, with many attending fewer than half of council meetings since their election.
In total, 236 out of the 650 MPs reported some form of outside income, collectively amassing around 32,000 hours of external work within the first 264 days of parliament. Among these MPs, 105 had ongoing paid employment, while 164 disclosed ad-hoc payments.
The Labour Party previously committed to banning all second jobs for MPs but has shifted its focus to target paid advisory and consultancy roles instead. In a related study from 2011, the Hansard Society revealed that MPs from the 2010 intake estimated they worked approximately 69 hours per week.
Source
www.theguardian.com