Nigel Farage and other MPs could be banned from hosting television news programmes as part of a crackdown on parliamentarians’ second jobs.
The move was announced this morning by a newly convened Commons Modernisation Committee, set up by the new Labour Government, as part of a push to reform the House.
The committee has set out a memorandum outlining key aims to drive up standards in Parliament, improve the culture and working practices, and reform the chamber’s proceedings.
In a warning to senior TV presenters such as Mr Farage, the committee said it will also examine “whether paid outside engagements such as MP media appearances, journalism and speeches provide a benefit to the public or present a conflict of interest”.
At the more extreme end of the spectrum, this could mean a potential ban on presenting gigs for MPs, which ballooned under the last parliament.
Mr Farage and fellow Reform UK MP Lee Anderson both host shows on GB News, with the latter making around £100,000 a year and his party chief raking in a whopping £98,000 per month, according to the Register of Members’ Interests.
Over recent years, other MPs such as Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have also hosted shows on GB News and LBC respectively.
In a letter to the Commons today, the Modernisation Committee also said it will set out to agree on a “set of core principles that will underpin how the committee will conduct its work”.
It will work on a cross-party basis, with its membership being drawn from a number of parties and a route for small parties such as Reform UK to feed in their views.
While the committee will make judgements on television presenting jobs, it sets out that a bigger priority will be looking into MPs’ advisory roles for private companies.
While MPs are banned from engaging in paid lobbying, they can provide strategic advice with no cap on salaries from their additional roles.
The committe also hopes to introduce new roles to reduce incidents of bullying, harassment and abuse as a “top priority”.
Leader of the Commons Lucy Powell, who chairs the committee, also suggested Commons time could be reformed to increase scrutiny of government legislation and spend less time on poorly attended backbench debates.
Responding to the announcement, GB News host Darren Grimes tore into Labour over apparent hypocrisy surrounding the announcement.
He posted on X: “David Lammy hosted a show on LBC and Labour never saw an issue.”
“When Right-leaning MPs get shows though, with big audiences, well, they must be stopped.
“I see no issue with an MP having a second job. It ought to be up to their constituents, not Labour, to decide if that’s right.”
