Geoffrey Cox: how much the former attorney general earned from his second jobs - and how long he spent on them

A Conservative MP and former Attorney General earned a fortune working a second job from the Caribbean and even voted remotely in Parliament, despite being 4,000 miles away.

Sir Geoffrey Cox QC is the latest MP to be engulfed in the storm surrounding second jobs as it is revealed he made hundreds of thousands of pounds working for international law firm Withers in the British Virgin Islands in April and May this year, according to The Daily Mail.

The MP reportedly arrived in the Caribbean on 26 April, the same day there was a debate on global corruption in the House of Commons. The British Virgin Islands is a known tax haven.

Yesterday (8 November) NationalWorld exclusively revealed MPs earned almost £10 million on top of their salaries through second jobs and other work outside of Parliament during the coronavirus pandemic.

The revelations come after former minister Owen Paterson resigned after being accused of breaking lobbying rules and have prompted fresh calls for MPs not to have second jobs outside parliament.

How much money has Geoffrey Cox earned from a second job?

Exclusive analysis of MP’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests by NationalWorld can reveal Sir Geoffrey Cox is one of the highest earning MPs after pocketing nearly £1 million between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2021.

He worked an extra 1,031 hours or 1.6 hours a day on top of his parliamentary work.

This is the equivalent of Mr Cox, who already earns an MP’s salary of £81,932 a year, earning an extra £873 an hour - nearly 100 times more than the minimum hourly wage.

Mr Cox also has one of the most lucrative second jobs. The MP earned a total of £430,816 from International legal services, Withers LLP, and £327,376 in separate payments from Withers LLP.

Sir Geoffrey Cox is the Conservative MP for Torridge and West Devon and has held the seat since 2005. He previously held the position of Attorney General between 2018 and 2020 but was sacked from cabinet by prime minister Boris Johnson in a reshuffle early last year.

He was knighted in the 2021 New Year’s Honour list for his parliamentary and political service.

What about other MPs?

Mr Cox is not the only MP cashing in on a second job.

This week NationalWorld’s exclusive #PartTimeParliament investigation revealed the extent of money earned and time spent by MPs on other work.

The exclusive series revealed MPs earned almost £10 million on top of their salaries through second jobs and other work outside of Parliament during the coronavirus pandemic.

Theresa May was the biggest single earner, with £1.3 million.

All of the top 10 biggest earners were Tories.

The MPs involved worked a combined total of more than six years on top of their usual parliamentary workload.

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