UK MPs earned $20.7 million additional income since the last election: Sky News report

Westminster Accounts, a joint project between Sky News and Tortoise Media, has revealed that Members of Parliament have earned £17.1 million ($20.7 mn) on top of their salaries in the current parliament. The majority of these extra earnings went to just 20 MPs, largely Tory politicians. The Tory MPs earned a total of £15.2 million ($18.4 mn), while Labour MPs earned an additional £1.2 million.

Former prime minister Theresa May was top of the list, earning £2,550,876 ($3,101,546) since the beginning of the session in December 2019. Most of her extra income came from a host of speaking engagements. David Lammy, Labour's shadow foreign secretary, topped his party's list, pocketing additional earnings of £202,599 ($246,335).

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After former Tory MP Owen Paterson found himself embroiled in a lobbying scandal, the issue of MPs having a second job rang throughout the parliament in 2021. Paterson had to eventually resign, but more cases of MPs making extra income while staying within the rules emerged. All this led to a demand in the Commons to bring in reforms.

MPs are likely to be banned from taking on work as political or parliamentary consultants from March. A source involved in the drafting of the rules told Sky News that the changes will impact the second jobs of at least 30 MPs. However, several others will probably still make thousands from speeches, TV appearances and other legal work.

Talking about Theresa May's income, Cambridge Speaker Series gave her £408,200 ($496,332) for delivering six talks in California, besides flights and accommodation for her and a member of staff. She even earned £38,000 ($46,203) from MPSF for a virtual talk.

The payment that stands out is from the World Travel and Tourism Council for a speech in November. She received £107,600 ($130,831) for it, but the entry register does not mention that the speech was delivered in Saudi Arabia. To recall, May had blocked ministers and officials from visiting the country for a period while she was prime minister following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

She says that her earnings go to a company called Office of Theresa May Limited. She pays herself a salary of £85,000 ($103,351) a year from it, while the rest of the cash goes towards charities. However, it isn't clear how much of it goes towards charitable works. Some chunk is also used to pay for other activities as a former prime minister, she says.

(With inputs from agencies)

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