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GB News spent well over half a million pounds on appearance fees for Tory and Reform politicians in the last year, a new record for the upstart right-wing news channel.
Analysis of the latest Register of MPs’ Interests by Byline Times found that 11 MPs had been paid £525,277 in fees from the channel while serving as parliamentarians over the last year. That included new MPs from the general election and those who lost their seats in July.
Nearly £200,000 of that went to two Reform MPs with the rest mostly being split among an array of Conservative hosts and guests.
Former Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg was the highest earner, listing £262,500 worth of payments in the last year from the channel for hosting his ‘State of The Nation’ show.
However, the Financial Times reported this week that Rees-Mogg may be facing the axe after GB News CEO Angelos Frangopoulos admitted the channel will “have to have some conversations” with the former MP after his failure to retain his seat.
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Another permanent host – Reform MP Lee Anderson – is paid £100,000 a year by the channel for his hosting duties. He was followed by party leader and new Clacton MP Nigel Farage who received an £81,607 payment from the channel 12 days after being elected as an MP
As his register only lists payments after he was elected rather than for a whole year as Anderson and Rees-Mogg do, Farage’s declared income from the channel could become significantly higher within the next few months as more payments are logged.
Married politician couple Esther McVey and Phillip Davies, the latter of whom is no longer an MP, earned a combined total of over £53,000 from presenting on the channel, mostly in a joint early morning slot.
Other MPs or former MPs, including Kwasi Kwarteng, Andrea Jenkyns or Jonathan Gullis, also netted several thousand pounds of payments from the channel. The only payment made to any politicians outside the two right wing parties was Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who logged £600 in appearance fees from the channel.
The figures registered at the right-wing news outlet significantly outstripped other news outlets, who would typically pay politicians appearance or writing fees in the hundreds or at most low thousands of pounds.
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In April, GB News announced it would be forced to cut back 40 staff roles to try and stem huge financial losses at the outlet. In the financial year to May 2023, it made a loss of over £42m, bringing its total losses since its launch in 2021 to at least £76m.
GB News is owned by hedge fund tycoon Paul Marshall. The channel is only a part of Marshall’s growing media empire, having founded alternative news site Unherd and recently acquiring right-wing magazine the Spectator for £100m.
Marshall is also reported to be one of the frontrunners in the bid to buy the Telegraph, which would make him one of the most influential media moguls in the UK.
In May, GB News announced it was launching legal proceedings against media regulator Ofcom after it ruled the channel had breached broadcasting rules. The regulator has opened over a dozen investigations into the outlet in recent years over its alleged failure to abide by impartiality rules.
George Havenhand, Senior Legal Researcher at Spotlight on Corruption, said: “MPs are elected to serve their constituents and receive a decent salary from taxpayers for doing so. But too many MPs use this public service role as a platform for lucrative side gigs to fatten their own wallets.
“Media work is a particular concern given growing regulatory concerns about broadcasters’ compliance with impartiality rules, the very large sums involved and the potential conflict of interest risks with MPs’ day jobs.”
He added: “With public trust in politics at record lows, it’s welcome that the Modernisation Committee is scrutinising whether these sorts of engagements provide any benefit to the public.”
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