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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is the highest earning MP in Britain, making £1.2mn a year from his TV presenting role on the channel GB News according to data published by the parliamentary authorities.
The new MP for Clacton-on-Sea makes £97,900 a month for his work on GB News, according to the latest register of MPs’ financial interests which was published on Friday evening.
The register also showed that in the past year Farage received £17,000 by making Cameo video recordings for fans, £4,000 from writing for the Telegraph newspaper and more than £2,000 from social media platforms X and Meta.
The register is the first published since the new crop of MPs were elected on July 4 and provides a window into the finances of elected politicians.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to ban MPs from pursuing second jobs that undermine their commitment to their main parliamentary work after a succession of scandals plagued the previous Conservative government.
Starmer has created carve-outs for those who need to keep professional qualifications up to date, such as lawyers and doctors, and those undertaking writing and presenting roles in the media.
These carve-outs cover the bulk of the most lucrative work undertaken by MPs.
GB News has drawn censure from media regulator Ofcom for its use of MPs onscreen. Ofcom has repeatedly found that the channel breached rules which prevent politicians from acting as news presenters. The rules do allow them to present current affairs and chat shows.
Farage told the Financial Times last month that he planned to broadcast from the media company’s studio three times a week.
Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox, a barrister, was formerly the highest-paid MP. He earned more than £800,000 from legal work in the past year.
Starmer reported receiving gifts and donations of more than £110,000 in the past year, including various free tickets to football matches. He had previously reported receiving £76,000 of entertainment, clothes and freebies since the 2019 election.
Leader of the Opposition and former prime minister Rishi Sunak reported receiving £47,000 of gifts, mainly helicopter flights.
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson received £100,000 for presenting and contributing to GB News.
The register also showed that a large number of donations were made by the Labour-affiliated think-tank Labour Together.
It gave donations — of usually around £5,000 to £10,000 each — to more than 100 new Labour MPs.
The think-tank was formerly run by Labour strategy guru Morgan McSweeney, and then by new Labour MP Josh Simons. It is now led by former shadow cabinet minister Jonathan Ashworth, who lost his seat in the election.
The register shows that Simons holds a more than 15 per cent stake in Labour Together.
