Former PM Liz Truss is the highest earning MP in parliament with an hourly rate of £15,770 (Picture: Getty)
Liz Truss earned an average of £15,770 an hour working second jobs while still serving as an MP, an investigation has revealed.
New analysis by Sky News published on Friday showed MPs are being paid an average of £233 per hour to work second jobs instead of serving their constituents- nearly 17 times the average national wage.
The study found that Ms Truss, who became Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister when she resigned after just 49 days, has since become Westminster’s highest hourly earner- most of which came from giving a single speech in Taiwan which earned her more than £90,000.
Even higher than Ms Truss is her predecessor as PM Boris Johnson, who resigned as an MP in disgrace last month and earned over £6.4 million while in parliament, averaging an hourly rate of £21,822.
Boris Johnson earned even more before he resigned as an MP last month, earning over £6.4 million while in parliment (Picture: Getty)
Of the 10 MPs with the highest hourly rate, nine are Conservatives and one, Ian Blackford, is an SNP politician.
Also high up the list is Labour leader Keir Starmer, who despite calling for a ban on MPs holding second jobs has received over £800,000 in extra-parliamentary income since joining parliament in 2015, averaging an hourly rate of around £360.
The Westminster Accounts project, produced in collaboration between Sky News and Tortoise Media, has examined the data that MPs provide on the amount of time they have worked on second jobs in this parliament.
The MP registering the most hours in the private sector is former attorney general and MP for West Devon Sir Geoffrey Cox, who put the tally at 2,565.
Dr Dan Poulter, a Conservative MP and NHS hospital doctor, has worked the most hours in a non-political job since the 2019 election. He has worked 3,508 hours in mental health services.
Sinn Fein MP John Finucane, who runs a toner company, is the highest non-conservative on the list, while Labour MPs Dan Jarvis and Tahir Ali have the most hours logged from their respective party, with around 1750 hours each.
Asked about Rishi Sunak’s views on the findings at a briefing today, a No10 spokesman said: ‘He has said previously that it is right that constituents expect MPs’ focus should be on serving their constituencies.
Keir Starmer has pocketed £800,000 since becoming an MP in 2015 (Picture: Getty)
‘It is their constituents who will decide if they are doing a good job.’
But Tory MP and chair of the health select committee, Steve Brine, accused Westminster Accounts of ‘smearing’ politicians.
Mr Brine, who has worked 497 hours in second jobs this parliament on an average of £200 per hour, told Sky News: ‘I’m focused on my constituents, I focus on chairing my select committee and I always have [been].
‘I think you should be very careful about smearing MPs and making out that MPs are not focusing on their jobs – 99.9% of MPs I’ve met in Westminster are focused on doing their job and doing the right thing.
‘Be very careful before you run our profession into the ground.’
Former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford- who earned over £38,000 for 31 hours work in this parliament – told the channel there was a ‘legitimate debate’ to be had about MPs’ outside earnings.
‘I think it is important the public can have trust in those they send to parliament’ said Mr Blackford, who admitted to holding two two non-executive jobs but said he left the roles ‘very, very early in this parliament.’
‘You have obviously seen the likes of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss earn eye watering sums of money on the speaking circuit, benefiting from the position that they had as prime minister, and I think rightly people are appalled at that kind of behaviour.
‘I think it is important that we can trust our politicians and I think people have to look very carefully at what they do.’
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Britain’s shortest-serving PM is now its biggest earner.
