Nigel Farage has been accused of grifting after it emerged he earned £270,000 for just 12 hours of work promoting gold bullion, sparking cross-party calls for a ban on MPs holding second jobs. The Reform UK leader declared over £2 million in earnings and gifts since becoming MP for Clacton in July 2024, on top of his £98,599 parliamentary salary.
Farage's Outside Earnings Under Scrutiny
Labour MP Richard Burgon, who has proposed legislation to ban second jobs, told Westminster Hall: 'Being an MP is a privilege, a well-paid privilege. The nearly £100,000-a-year salary places us in the highest 5% of earners in the country. So being an MP should be a full time job.' He noted Farage suggested the minimum wage for young people of £10.85 per hour could be too much, yet earned £22,500 per hour for his gold bullion work — more than 1,700 times the national living wage.
Farage's latest register of members' interests entry also shows £18,402 for six hours of presenting on GB News. In total, he has declared 16 outside sources of income, amounting to 140 days of paid work since his election.
Cross-Party Outrage
Lib Dem Lisa Smart told MPs: 'The people who voted us here don't do so just so that we can use it as a launching pad into a media career, or a consultancy, or corporate boardrooms. Voters sent us here to work for them.' She accused Farage of 'grifting' and said his conduct treats parliamentary responsibilities as 'at best a part-time concern.'
Green MP Dr Ellie Chowns described the earnings as 'frankly obscene,' adding: 'If somebody is doing this sort of work for these sorts of sums, there can be only one motivation — personal enrichment, personal greed. And that has no place in a public servant.'
Government Considers Tightening Rules
Labour chair Anna Turley said the government is reviewing rules around outside earnings for MPs. She stated: 'The fact that it remains open to MPs to treat their Parliamentary and constituency responsibilities as secondary to other work is outdated... In the view of this government, it has to change now.' She highlighted Farage's £22,500 per hour rate as incompatible with his obligations to Clacton.
The Commons Committee on Standards is currently investigating rules for MPs regarding outside earnings. Farage is also being probed by the Parliamentary standards commissioner for allegedly failing to declare a £5 billion donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne before entering Parliament. Reform UK has been contacted for comment.
