Press Gazette reports that 60 MPs made just under £350,000 from media appearances last year with some of the highest earning upwards of £40,000 a year.
Right-wing GB News was the biggest media spender on MPs last year, forking out ‘£82,040 between October 2021 and September 2022 for appearances or presenting programmes, at almost twice the rate of its next nearest competitor’, Press Gazette reports.
Among the highest earning MPs were David Lammy, Esther McVey and Jess Phillips, who all made over £33,000, the median UK salary, for their media work on behalf of various outlets.
It’s worth pointing out that the current salary of MPs of £84,144, places them within the top 5% of earners.
Press Gazette reports that 60 MPs made just under £350,000 from media appearances last year with some of the highest earning upwards of £40,000 a year.
Lammy, who presents a radio show on LBC, earned £47,532, while McVey raked in £43,498 through a regular column for the Express, presenting on GB News and a number of other newspaper articles.
The site goes on to add: “Former Labour leadership contender Phillips meanwhile earned over £41,000 thanks to a column in The Independent worth £15,120 a year, appearances on Have I Got News For You and articles for magazines like The New Statesman.”
Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee, who we’ve become accustomed to seeing more of lately given the number of Tory leadership races, raked in nearly £31,000, largely down to £26,000 he makes annually from chairing an MP advisory committee for parliamentary magazine The House. His other media work includes columns in the Mail, Telegraph and Express among others.
Tory MP Dehenna Davison, who recently announced that she would not be contesting the next election, made £22,548 from presenting a programme on GB News.
After GB News, LBC spent the most on MPs, forking out £53,152, The House magazine spent £29,450, Associated Newspapers, which owns the Daily Mail, £24,650 and Murdoch-owned News UK spent £23,925.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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