MPs’ second jobs: neither Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will commit to changing rules - as 8 MPs take on new roles

Neither Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak will commit to changing the rules around MPs’ second jobs in line with recommendations made following the Owen Paterson scandal last year, NationalWorld can reveal.

This is despite a number of MPs taking on new ‘second jobs’ in the months after the scandal, including two former ministers who accepted lucrative roles in sectors relevant to their previous roles with firms linked to the Conservative Party.

Standards committee chair Chris Bryant said it was “essential” that the new Prime Minister puts forward the recommendations to the Commons “as soon as possible”.

Eight MPs have taken on new ‘second jobs’ since Owen Paterson scandal

Despite recommendations by the Committee on Standards in Public Life and the MPs’ standards committee, plus overwhelming public support for a ban on second jobs, it seems unlikely that any limit on the amount of work MPs can take on outside of parliament will be introduced.

Back in November the then-North Shropshire MP was found to have lobbied on behalf of a firm which he had worked for, Randox Laboratories.

The former minister eventually bowed to intense pressure and resigned his seat as an MP, prompting a by-election which the Conservatives lost to the Liberal Democrats in a historic upset.

After initially trying to help Mr Paterson avoid sanction over the incident, Boris Johnson eventually said MPs would be “appropriately punished” if found to have prioritised a job outside parliament over their role as an MP.

Since then, eight MPs have taken on new jobs outside of Parliament, including one MP who started three new jobs worth a combined total of more than £96,000 per year.

Of the eight MPs, seven are Conservatives, including former Education Secretary Gavin Williamson who accepted a £50,000 per year role with an education firm which has close links with the Conservative Party.

Former care minister Caroline Dinenage accepted a role worth £30,000 per year plus expenses with LNT Care Developments Group, which is owned by a Conservative donor.

Robert Buckland, Johnny Mercer and Stephen McPartland each accepted a new ‘second job’ after the Owen Paterson scandal came to light but have in the last month or so ceased these roles.

According to the most recent entry in the register of members’ financial interests, each of these MPs resigned from their new second roles on 7 July, when they were appointed as government ministers, as is standard procedure.

Mark Pritchard took on three new roles in February, March and May, and has since ceased one of the jobs.

Bill Wiggin, who already had a number of ‘second jobs’ including lucrative roles as a fund manager for firms based in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, accepted an additional role advising a fertiliser firm, worth £2,000 per year.

Connor McGinn, the only Labour MP to have accepted a new second job since November, will be paid £2,000 per year as a racecourse committee member at Haydock Park Racecourse.

Polling carried out on NationalWorld’s behalf back in November found that a significant majority of the public favour a ban on MPs’ second jobs, after we revealed that MPs had registered around £10m in outside earnings between January 2020 and August 2021.

Will Sunak or Truss ban MPs from taking second jobs?

When asked on numerous occasions whether they would change the rules around MPs’ second jobs in line with the standards committee’s recommendations, neither of the candidates to replace Boris Johnson have committed to reviewing the rules around MPs’ outside interests.

Back in November the government said it would look at imposing limits on either or both the amount of time MPs can spend on outside work and the amount they are able to earn.

However, Mr Johnson was widely criticised after it came to light that these proposed changes to the rules had been dropped.

Writing to the standards committee with regards to the recommended changes, a government minister said imposing a limit would be ‘impractical’.

The committee chair, Chris Bryant MP, told NationalWorld that the proposals will, “improve checks and balances on MPs and shine a light on any wrongdoing”.

He said: “The last year has shown that the public cares passionately about standards in parliament – and so do MPs. Our committee has set out a package of robust new measures to uphold and strengthen standards in Parliament by improving transparency, tackling conflicts of interest, and tightening the rules on improper lobbying.

“Whoever is leading the Government next month, I’m sure they’ll agree that standards in public life matter. It is therefore essential that the Government commits to providing time for the House to consider our proposals as soon as possible.”