MPs’ second jobs

In its manifesto for the 2024 general election, the Labour Party said it would “task the Modernisation Committee to take forward urgent work on the restrictions that need to be put in place to prevent MPs from taking up roles that stop them serving their constituents and the country”.

MPs are currently allowed to take second jobs. However, paragraph 9 of the Code of Conduct (PDF) for MPs, prohibits MPs from providing paid parliamentary advice.

MPs who take on outside employment must have a contract or written statement detailing their duties. They must record income from employment and earnings in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. According to the Guide to the Rules relating to the Conduct of Members (PDF), they have to record “payments received (of whatever size) for any employment outside the House once they have received a total of over £300 in payments from the same source in a calendar year”.

In November 2021, the Committee on Standards proposed (in a consultation document, para 179) to “introduce a ban on Members providing paid parliamentary advice, consultancy, or strategy services”. The Committee also considered whether the House could implement a requirement that MPs’ outside activities should be “within reasonable limits”, as proposed by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (PDF) and endorsed by the House on 17 November 2021.

The Committee on Standards concluded that a measure limiting the time an MP could spend on outside interests, or the amount they could earn, should “only be implemented with broad cross-party support” (para 192).

In the assessment of its consultation (PDF), the Committee on Standards reported that no restriction should be introduced on the amount of time an MP could spend on outside work, nor on the income they might receive from it (para 118).