Nigel Farage’s lucrative gig as a presenter on the Right-wing GB News channel could be under threat as a new Commons committee looks at MPs’ paid media interests.
The Modernisation Committee outlined its priorities on Thursday after the last Parliament saw 16 MPs suspended for varying degrees of bad behaviour - more than in the previous five Parliaments combined.
New rules on bullying and sexual harassment, including how to handle complaints against MPs by Commons staff, are also set to be part of its reform agenda.
Committees are normally steered by a backbench MP but unusually, this one has a minister for its chair: Commons Leader Lucy Powell. She said it would work to drive up standards and improve the working culture for members.
“Members across the House will know that the events of recent years and the misconduct of individual members has eroded public trust and confidence in this institution,” she said in a memorandum to MPs.
“It is incumbent on all of us to embody the high standards that the public expect of us and we must all act to change and improve the reputation of this place.”
MPs’ media roles will be in the spotlight. The new Government has already approved a crackdown on second jobs, with members banned from providing paid advice on policy or how Parliament works.
But Labour ministers have so far resisted calls to restrict paid participation in the media, after rows over potential conflicts of interest from some MPs presenting current affairs programmes on news stations.
Broadcasting regular Ofcom has repeatedly found GB News to be in breach of impartiality rules.
Mr Farage, the leader of Reform UK, was the highest-earning MP in the latest Commons register of interests, earning nearly £100,000 a month from the channel. He quit the role during the election campaign, but resumed it after.
His fellow Reform MP Lee Anderson listed presenting income of £100,000 a year from GB News, which has also employed Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg and the married couple Esther McVey and Philip Davies.
For Labour, David Lammy quit his job hosting a call-in programme on LBC radio in April ahead of the expected election, which saw him become Foreign Secretary in Sir Keir Starmer’s new Government.
Mr Lammy earned more than £200,000 from an array of outside interests in the last Parliament, according to a database compiled by Sky News and Tortoise Media. He was one of only two Labour MPs in the top 20 earners.
Ms Powell said the Modernisation Committee “should consider what advantages, if any, outside paid engagements such as media appearances, journalism and speeches furnish to the public, versus the potential conflicts of interest and attention that arise from such paid endeavours”.
She said the 14-strong committee - comprising nine Labour MPs, three Conservatives and two Liberal Democrats - will aim to work closely with the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards on further rule changes.
Ms Powell also stressed: “Turning the page on unacceptable and damaging high profile incidents of bullying, harassment and abuse we have seen in Parliament in recent years remains a top priority.”
