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Just five MPs hoovered up over three quarters of the total media earnings by Members of Parliament in 2024, according to analysis by Byline Times.
Reform leader Nigel Farage, his Reform UK colleague Lee Anderson, and Conservatives Nick Timothy, Jacob Rees-Mogg (no longer sitting) and Suella Braverman led the pack for MPs making the most from media and speaking appearances last year. They brought in £770,000 on top of their MP salaries, between them.
Labour’s David Lammy – now foreign secretary – and ousted ex-PM Liz Truss, as well as fellow Conservatives Jake Berry and Ben Wallace also received large sums during the same period.
Overwhelmingly, the highest amount given by a company for paid media appearances was from GB News, responsible for £456,000 in payments to eight MPs.
More than £285,000 has been received by MPs for an array of speaking engagements, while the Telegraph has paid the most – more than £190,000 – to MPs for written articles, the majority of which is the £145,000 salary paid to Nick Timothy, the Conservative MP for West Suffolk.
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The revelations come after The Observer reported that at least some of these outside earnings may be curtailed going forward, with MPs no longer able to rake in massive amounts from highly paid media gigs.
The Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, will be appearing in front of the Standards Committee in a session that will focus on tightening up rules on MPs’ outside interests from media work at 12:30pm on Tuesday (14th January).
Speaking to Byline Times, a spokesperson for the Modernisation Committee, the body tasked with looking at MPs’ pay from second jobs, said that: “Over the past few months, the committee has been talking to people inside and outside of Parliament about the changes they want to see.
“The Modernisation Committee will be considering these as it sets out to drive up standards, improve the culture and working practices and reform procedures to make the House of Commons more open and accessible to people from all walks of life.”
This follows on from previous work undertaken by the Labour Government, which has already tightened rules on Members outside interests relating to consulting work giving paid advice on public policy, and advice about how Parliament works. The house voted to prevent MPs getting outside earnings from lobbying or advocacy jobs on 25th of July 2024, changes which came into effect last October.
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In its memorandum of understanding, published August 2024, the Modernisation Committee outlined its key areas of focus in this area, stating: “In particular, the Modernisation Committee should maintain the focus on the role of paid advice in members’ professional lives.
“It should consider what advantages, if any, outside paid engagements such as media appearances, journalism and speeches furnish[ed] to the public, versus the potential conflicts of interest and attention that arise from such paid endeavours.”
In the most extreme cases, contracts from paid media work earn certain parliamentarians more than double their MP salaries. Nigel Farage, the most highly paid MP in Parliament from outside interests, Lee Anderson, and during his time as an MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, all earned six-figure salaries from GB News. Farage has 9 jobs, and has netted a staggering £571,585, on top of his MP salary in less than six months, The Mirror reports.
He’s also taken nearly £70,000 for speaking engagements, including £40,000 for speaking at the ‘Nomad Capitalist’ event in Kuala Lumpur, an international conference geared towards helping the hyper-wealthy minimise their tax burden, obtain multiple citizenships, and place their money offshore.
Labour’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, between January and May 2024 when he was still in opposition, topped the Party’s leader board for relevant outside interests, taking home nearly £17,500 for presenting his show on LBC. He left the position prior to the general election.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was the highest earning MP from speaking engagements during the period, having made over £80,000 since January for a variety of talks, including for an event in Washington paid for by the conservative Edmund Burke Foundation, which has been accused of promoting climate denial and anti-immigration policies.
She’s also taken £7,000 from the Global Liberty Institute, another conservative think tank geared to, in its own words, “counter powerful international organizations that have been influencing world governments and an entire generation while undermining freedom”. The group is headed by former Trump adviser and senior Hoover Institute fellow Dr Scott Atlas.
The Telegraph have paid Braverman £18,000 for articles written throughout the year, the second highest amount given to any MP from the paper.
Speaking to the Observer about the upcoming changes, Powell said: “What we will consider is whether there is a reputational risk to MPs as a whole, where paid exclusive contracts with media companies – which might give rise to perceived conflicts – are not only permitted but have been commonplace.”
“This is not about any individual – we’re looking at the rules of the game for everyone. It’s also not about preventing MPs from doing media, regularly or otherwise – of course not, as this is an important part of the job.”
Nick Timothy, Nigel Farage, Suella Braverman, and David Lammy were approached for comment.

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