MPs’ Second Jobs: A Scandal Waiting to Happen
| Author | Sophie Stowers |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058231167268 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
26 POLITICAL INSIGHT • MARCH 2023
In November 2021, Conservative MP
Owen Paterson was found to have
breached Parliament’s rules on paid
advocacy and lobbying, by allegedly
using his parliamentary prole and inuence
for two companies that were employing
him as a consultant. The scandal had almost
immediate impact. Boris Johnson, who had
been riding high in the polls, attempted to
abolish the standards procedure that had
found Paterson guilty. Johnson’s premiership
never recovered. Within less than a year he
was out of oce.
Almost as signicant, the Paterson
scandal put the issues of MPs’ second jobs
rmly on the political agenda. In the weeks
that followed, revelations poured out of
Westminster, with MPs from all sides of the
House found to be earning substantial sums
of money for second jobs. Questions were
raised about the eect such employment
might have on the priorities of MPs and their
MPs’ Second Jobs:
A Scandal Waiting
to Happen
MPs’ external financial interests are rarely out of the news headlines.
Sophie Stowers looks at the rules around second jobs, recent reforms,
and the prospects for further rule changes in the future.
role as constituency representatives.
These concerns were compounded by
the huge data release from
Tortoise
and
Sky
News
earlier this year. The two organisations
compiled data on MPs’ nances, and the
gifts and donations they receive from
external sources, showing parliamentarians
had earned £17.1 million from second jobs
in just three years.
Public distrust in MPs is nothing new:
a feeling of suspicion and, in some cases,
contempt, toward Westminster has been
building for years, with almost half of people
expressing distrust in Parliament, according
to the Oce of National Statistics. But this is
arguably the rst expenses-style scandal to
© Stefan Rousseau / Alamy Stock Photo
Political Insight March 2023 BU.indd 26Political Insight March 2023 BU.indd 26 27/02/2023 13:5027/02/2023 13:50
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