Ministers say the rule changes present 'a real start' to stopping the MP second jobs scandal
Labour MPs have backed a plan to restrict outside jobs for MPs and reduce the circumstances where MPs can take on paid advisory roles.
New rules on lobbying gigs for MPs will get rid of exemptions that exist which allow them to advise employers on ‘public policy’ and general advice on how Parliament works, as leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell said removing these ‘loopholes’ would prevent MPs using their position for personal gain.
Powell said: “We want MPs to be focussed first and foremost on their principal job, which is representing their constituents.”
“Too many people think MPs aren’t doing the job they’ve been elected to do, when actually this is a tiny minority that we are talking about but we want to turn the page on that era.”
Already there is a ban on MPs advocating an employer’s interests in Parliament or influencing ministers in a paid role, but ministers said they will now close loopholes that allow MPs to give advice on public policy and current affairs while in an outside job.
A new Modernisation Committee will be set up to recommend further changes to how the House of Commons functions, aiming to tackle the era of sleaze in Parliament and take further action on second jobs.
MPs currently receive a salary of £91,346, while last year MPs racked up over £17m in total from outside work, with Boris Johnson’s earnings accounting for 85% of the total at the start of 2023.
In the clampdown on external work, carve-outs will be made for MPs in jobs including nurses and doctors where there is a need to keep qualifications up to date, but also for speaking, writing or media roles.
With public anger over MPs raking in significant money in second jobs, there is criticism that the reforms do not go far enough, with MPs still free to present shows on news channels and radio stations which arguably takes up a lot of time and lands MPs in hot water with Ofcom, that has rules against elected politicians presenting a news programme.
There is also an argument that lobbying often happens in the shadows. Will Dunn in the Statesman wrote, “a more open record of who gets to speak to power, and about what, might do more to restore the public’s faith in parliament.”
SNP MP Kirsty Blackman welcomed the amendment but said: “It doesn’t in my mind relate to the paid employment that constituents think of when they think about second jobs.
“When constituents are thinking about (this) they’re thinking about people who are appearing on GB News on a weekly basis, which is not taken in by the changes that are proposed in this amendment.
“They’re thinking about the people that are doing work for a financial institution, as (Green Party MP Ellie Chowns) said, which again is not taken in by this amendment.
“What this amendment to the rules does is really a good thing, but I think it has been badged wrongly calling it about second jobs.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said, “It’s up to the individuals themselves to determine” whether presenting shows amounts to serving their constituents. It falls short of what Keir Starmer previously pledged when he said Labour would ban all second jobs for MPs, with ‘very limited exemptions’.
Labour MP Richard Burgon welcomed the new rules around second jobs as a “real start on stopping this scandal”, he said it was “time to clean up our politics”.
MPs have three months before the rule changes come into effect in October.
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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