How much Lincolnshire MPs earned through second jobs

Over £100 per hour for surveys, £300,000 for legal services and nearly £75,000 as a director of an international bank… just some of the ways Lincolnshire MPs have boosted their incomes in the last 12 months.

MPs receive an annual salary of £74,000, excluding travel expenses, employing members of staff and office costs to represent their constituents in the House of Commons.

However, a list published by Parliament earlier this month has revealed that many MPs enjoy other more lucrative sources of income.

Below is a full breakdown of the additional earnings declared by Lincolnshire’s MPs in the last 12 months, disclosed by Parliament under the register of members’ financial interests earlier this month.

Karl McCartney, Lincoln

In just 10 hours taking part in parliamentary panel and online surveys for opinion pollsters ComRes, Ipsos MORI, YouGov, and Populus, Lincoln MP Karl McCartney earned £1,380, equivalent to around £138 per hour, or more than 20 times the minimum wage.

McCartney was paid over £10,000 from the Hong Kong government for a visit from January 25 to 29 this year and receives an undisclosed dividend “below the registrable threshold” from a shareholding at MLSystems, where he is a director.

The Lincoln MP also benefited from donations linked to him worth £25,000, including a £5,000 donation from Bifrangi UK Ltd, the specialist forgers which established a base in the city in 2013.

Karl McCartney was contacted by The Lincolnite, but declined to comment.

Stephen Phillips, Sleaford and North Hykeham

The Lincoln MP’s outside earnings were dwarfed by his constituency neighbour, the Sleaford and North Hykeham MP, Stephen Phillips.

In his other jobs as a barrister and crown court recorder, Phillips declared income in excess of £300,000 over the last 12 months, putting him as one of the highest earning MPs across the country.

A large section of his earnings as a member of the Queen’s Counsel resulted from his work for commercial law firm Hill Dickinson, which totalled £175,000 for 350 hours of work.

Overall, his earnings as a barrister totalled £289,928.75, exclusive of VAT for just under 565 hours of work. This works out at £513.37 an hour.

Phillips received an additional £12,834.50 in five separate payments as a Crown Court Recorder for work between June and December 2015.

Combined, Phillips’ income from his second jobs amounted to £302,763.25, and saw him work nearly 11 hours a week on average outside of his duties as an MP.

Phillips, who has represented Sleaford and North Hykeham since 2010, also received a donation of £4,837 from the Kuwait National Assembly as part of All Party Parliamentary Group visit to the country between January 30 and February 2 this year.

Stephen Phillips failed to respond by the time of publication after being contacted by The Lincolnite.

However, he has previously defended his other forms of revenue, stating in The Daily Telegraph in 2013: “My attendance and other indicators are among the highest among MPs, with my expenses among the lowest, and my remaining work outside Parliament is primarily when the House is not sitting and other MPs are on holiday.

“I would also say that I think it useful to keep a foot in the real world outside politics, though I accept that mine is very well paid.”

Edward Leigh, Gainsborough

Long-serving Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh has the second highest additional earnings of Lincolnshire MPs through his role as a director at an international bank.

Leigh was appointed as Independent Non-Executive Director of Europe Arab Bank in April 2012, and receives a salary of £74,000 which is paid monthly.

He is also a member of the Board Audit & Risk Committee and the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

His role as non-executive director at the bank involves a monthly commitment of between 20 to 30 hours.

He said: “My expense claims are among the lowest and I have spoken in 114 debates in the last year – well over the average – so the taxpayer is getting the best value for money from me as one of the most productive MPs.

Too many MPs are stuck in the Westminster bubble, so having outside interests and work means an MP can gain vital experience and keep in touch with the professional world without any cost for the taxpayer.

Other Lincolnshire MPs

The only outside earnings declared by Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman and Louth and Horncastle MP Victoria Atkins were for work conducted before they entered the House of Commons in May 2015.

Similarly, the single donation received by Grantham and Stamford MP Nick Boles was for a visit to the British-Spanish Tertulias Forum in Bilbao in October 2014, the costs of which were reimbursed in December.

John Hayes, MP for South Holland and the Deepings, also declared just one donation, for £20,000 in June 2015.