Revealed: The Staggering Amount of Time Nigel Farage has Spent on ‘Second’ Jobs Since Becoming an MP
The Reform UK leader has logged more than 1,100 hours for 14 outside employers since his election in July 2024 reports Olly Haynes
Nigel Farage has spent over 1,113 hours or 140 working days at his various other jobs since being elected to Parliament in July 2024 – while spending considerably less time addressing Parliament than other party leaders.
By totalling Farage’s own estimates in the register of interests, Byline Times can reveal that Farage has spent 140 working days working on projects related to his other jobs, spread across 14 employers. The analysis excludes Farage’s work for the Telegraph newspaper, which is recorded differently.
The majority of the work – totalling over 800 hours – was for three firms; GB News, Cameo and X.com, the social media site owned by Elon Musk, from which Farage receives regular payouts through the creator program.
A total of 346 hours were logged for posting on X, which Farage could plausibly claim is related to his role as a Parliamentarian. However, 231 hours, or roughly 28 working days, were spent making custom videos for Cameo, a side hustle which has netted the Reform UK leader £180,336.86 since becoming the MP for Clacton on Sea. Cameo users are able to request video-making celebrities follow a rough script, for example, wishing a friend happy birthday.
But Farage’s Cameo work has got him into hot water more than once. In 2021, when he used the phrase “up the ra”, a slogan in support of the IRA, at the request of a Cameo customer, and in January of this year, when he was tricked into praising the notorious paedophile Ian Watkins.
Farage is one of the highest-earning MPs in Parliament. His largest single payments to date have been from the gold firm, Direct Bullion, which paid him £415,000 in three instalments for an estimated 12 hours’ work advertising.
Farage has also raked in handsome speaking fees from the cryptocurrency information platform Blockworks, the PR firm Zebu group, and the Republican-aligned Political Action Committee, the Club for Growth.
The Reform UK leader, and potential future Prime Minister, has, by contrast to his secondary freelance work, been comparatively absent from Parliament. According to Parliament’s log of spoken contributions, Farage has spoken in Parliament 43 times since the general election, including points of order and supplementary questions.
This is considerably lower than the other party leaders. Ed Davey has made 134 contributions, Kemi Badenoch, as leader of the opposition, has made 309 contributions, and Jeremy Corbyn, as an independent and now leader of Your Party, has made 216 contributions.
The number of hours and amount of money being made by Farage raise questions about whether the rules around MPs taking second jobs are tight enough, in echoes of the scandal that surrounded Conservative MP Geoffrey Cox in 2021.
Tom Brake, director of the pressure group Unlock Democracy, which campaigns to have the maximum salary MPs can earn from second jobs be capped at £45,000 from a maximum of 20 hours work a week, told Byline Times: “An MP’s primary and most important job is being an MP, representing their constituents and scrutinising the Government.
“MPs, like every public servant, need a job description they could be held to. This would cap time and money spent on second, third and fourth jobs and put an end to MPs more interested in their bank balance than their constituents.”
Parliament has sat for approximately 260 days since the Reform UK leader was elected.
Nigel Farage was contacted for comment.
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