Leading UK Members of Parliament external income 2019-2023

Former Prime minister Theresa May reportedly earned around 2.8 million pounds since the beginning of the current parliamentary sitting which began in December 2019. She is a member of the Conservative Party and has been Member of Parliament for Maidenhead in Berkshire since 1997.

Boris Johnson

16 of the 25 top earnings spots are occupied by members of the Conservative Party, and include many notable figures such as Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak, and Liz Truss. While it has been the precedent of many former Prime ministers to take-on speaking engagements since leaving office, the two top spots, Theresa May and Boris Johnson are still serving MP's. It was widely reported at the end of 2022 that former Prime minister Boris Johnson had earned more than a million pounds from four speaking engagements. These four speaking engagements occurred in the two months after he left office, despite a rule from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments that members should wait three months after leaving office to take up paid employment.

Members of Parliament and second jobs

The discussion around external methods of MP income generation beyond that of their annual salary has come and gone from public discourse. It made a roaring comeback however after the “Owen Patterson scandal” in October 2021, in which a minister (Owen Patterson) had been found to have broken lobbying rules on paid advocacy. The Prime minister at the time Boris Johnson, initially tried to save Patterson from a parliamentary suspension but had to U-turn after substantial backlash. The scandal has since been referred to as the “beginning of the end” of Johnson’s premiership, and again raised questions surrounding the ethics around MP’s taking on secondary employment, particularly as parliamentary strategists, advisors, and consultants to major firms.