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A Government minister has admitted that progress tackling MPs’ second jobs has been “glacial” and urged the next Prime Minister to go further.
The call came in a debate on MPs’ outside interests on Wednesday, which saw an absent Nigel Farage – the highest-earning Member of Parliament – come under heavy fire from several directions.
The debate took place on the day it emerged that the Reform leader has been paid £22,500 an hour as a brand ambassador for a gold bullion dealer over recent months, on top of roughly £2 million in outside earnings since the 2024 election.
Richard Burgon (Lab, Leeds East), who secured the debate, said the Reform UK leader was earning “more than £22,000 per hour” – from a man who once argued a £10.85 minimum wage was too high for young workers. “Some man of the people,” Burgon said.
Green MP Dr Ellie Chowns called Farage’s colossal outside income “frankly obscene”.
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Minister Anna Turley said Farage has “16 jobs” according to his Register of Interests, and cited Byline Times analysis showing that, as of March, he had logged the equivalent of 140 working days on outside work since becoming an MP just two years ago.
Lisa Smart (Lib Dem, Hazel Grove) added that Farage has been paid for “hundreds of hours presenting on GB News” and had taken fees from crypto platforms. Meanwhile, he has spoken in the Commons “fewer than 50 times in two years”, less than any other party leader. She was pulled up by the Chair for calling his conduct “grifting”.
Other MPs in the line of fire included barrister Sir Geoffrey Cox (Con, Torridge and Tavistock). Labour’s Phil Brickell said Cox logged “around 500 hours” of outside legal work last year, including £60,000 from a Luxembourg bank in a single month — “one and a half times the average national salary”.
Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe (Great Yarmouth) was called out by Lib Dem Lisa Smart for receiving over £70,000 from Elon Musk-owned platform X since the last election, with the algorithm effectively incentivising him and other MPs to stir up rage for cash.
Minister Turley said this made her “jaw hit the desk” and signalled the government sees it as a live issue.
£11 Million and Counting
Richard Burgon cited figures from Sky News’s Westminster Accounts database showing that MPs had made £11 million in total in outside earnings since the 2024 election.
But the top 10 MPs in that list account for over £7 million of the haul, nearly two-thirds.
By party share of all outside earnings, the Conservatives come out top at 66%, Reform (with just eight MPs) account for 20%, and Labour (with over 400) just 7%.
And in a sign that a clampdown on second jobs would severely affect just a small number of high-earning politicians, 18 MPs have earned more from second jobs than from their MP salary.
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Labour’s Phil Brickell claimed second jobs were having a dire impact on public trust, citing YouGov figures showing that only 4% of the public believe politicians act in the national interest (YouGov), while 87% have “not very much or no trust” in politicians (More in Common). Fellow Labour MP Ian Lavery cited YouGov polling in 2024 showing that 68% think second jobs should only be allowed in “exceptional circumstances”.
| Party | MPs | Seat share | Earnings share | Index relative to party size (earnings ÷ seats) | Approx. avg. per MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reform UK | 8 | 1.2% | 20% | 16× | £275,000 |
| Conservative | 117 | 18% | 66% | 3.7× | £62,000 |
| Labour | 403 | 62% | 7% | 0.1× | £1,900 |
| Other parties* | 122 | 18.8% | 7% | 0.4× | £6,300 |
‘Moving at a Glacial Speed’
Minister Anna Turley (Minister without Portfolio) gave the clearest signal of the Government’s direction on second jobs.
She confirmed the manifesto commitment to clamp down on outside earnings and pointed to the Chief Secretary to the PM, Darren Jones, saying in February that second jobs “should be banned outside very limited exceptions, such as maintaining a professional qualification.”
Labour Chair Turley set out three tests the Government wants the Committee on Standards to apply: time (outside work must not distract from constituency duty), money (it must not look like the MP’s primary income), and influence (it must not affect or appear to affect parliamentary conduct).
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On 6 November 2024, the Commons’ Modernisation Committee invited the Committee on Standards to look at whether outside interests or employment should be reformed in the Members’ code of conduct. It is still hearing evidence, in theory, but the last session almost a year ago (15 July 2025), and no report has yet been published.
Phil Brickell said: “Regrettably, it feels like we are moving at a glacial speed, when outside these walls, business is going on at an increasingly fast-moving pace.”
Turley agreed the pace has been “glacial” and said the Leader of the House wrote to the Committee on Standards again in June to push for a greater sense of urgency.
She ended with a note to Andy Burnham: “I will say this carefully, deliberately and as clearly as I can, perhaps in the hope of catching the ear of the next Prime Minister—this Government have the ability to draft and propose legislation and a big majority in the House.
“Parliamentarians here today and the Government have both the power and, crucially, the responsibility to protect this place and the privilege of being MP, not just for ourselves, but for those who come after.”
Richard Burgon, in his closing remarks, said he hoped the incoming Prime Minister will commit to a ban “in the coming weeks”.
Byline Times has asked Andy Burnham’s team for his view.
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