A member of the previous government who said he was forced to quit his ministerial role because of financial difficulties is now thought to be Norfolk’s highest paid MP. This comes as scrutiny intensifies over second jobs in Parliament, with Labour promising to tighten the rules on what MPs can do in an outside job in order to combat sleaze.
George Freeman, Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, earns £20,000 a month through additional employment, his register of interests has revealed.
Freeman stepped down as science minister in November and said part of the reason for quitting was that he could not afford to pay his rising mortgage on a ministerial salary. However, his financial struggles seem to have come to an end, as he is now raking in around £300,000 per year – and is believed to be one of the highest remunerated MPs in the region.
Multiple advisory roles boost Freeman’s income
Freeman has a range of advisory roles at seven organisations including consultancy firm Henham Strategy, Eastern Powerhouse – a group which aims to drive investment in the region and the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis – the latter paying him £1,000 an hour. According to his register of financial interests, his pay from this work totals £20,000 per month, which means he could be earning up to £331,346 per year – when combined with his MP’s salary of £91,346. This paid work adds up to 53 hours – or nearly a week and a half’s work – a month.
While several MPs in Norfolk have not registered any additional earnings, many have shares in various companies, meaning it is difficult to ascertain who really takes home the most money.
Freeman, who has been MP for Mid Norfolk since 2010, revealed in a blog post earlier this year that he quit his role as a science minister in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet due to financial difficulties. He wrote:
“I was so exhausted, bust and depressed that I was starting to lose the irrepressible spirit of optimism, endeavour, teamwork and progress which are the fundamentals of human achievement. And because my mortgage rises this month from £800 pcm to £2,000, which I simply couldn’t afford to pay on a ministerial salary. We’re in danger of making politics something only hedge funder donors, young spin doctors and failed trade unionists can afford to do.”
Previous breaches of ministerial code
Government ministers are not permitted to take on second jobs and Freeman would have been receiving an annual salary of around £118,300 while in this role. He learnt this the hard way in 2021, after he was reported to the Cabinet Office for breaching the ministerial code twice within three months, according to an investigation by openDemocracy.
At the time, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) referred Freeman after he failed to notify the lobbying watchdog before accepting several roles outside Parliament, including with a company producing hydrogen for buses that wanted to set up a plant in Norfolk.
Lord Pickles, ACOBA chair, informed then Cabinet Office secretary Michael Gove that Freeman’s failure to seek advice violated the government’s rules as outlined in the Ministerial Code. Freeman later apologised, citing a “misunderstanding of the process.”
Earlier in 2021, he had also broken the ministerial code by not consulting ACOBA before taking a consultancy role with a company that supplied protective equipment to the NHS during the pandemic. Although Freeman claimed ACOBA had apologised to him over “confusing guidance”, Pickles denied this, confirming that Freeman was under investigation for further breaches, with ACOBA’s published correspondence revealing several unreported positions.
Financial struggles since 2017
The MP’s financial woes began during his divorce in 2017 when he was required to take out a large mortgage in order to support his family, which he has been paying off through financial advisory work. Mr Freeman claims his current take-home pay is less than his register of interests suggests as he has not yet started some of these roles.
He said: “Many MPs have outside interests – as doctors, dentists, lawyers, farmers or directors of family businesses. Mine is helping UK start-up companies raise finance. I have spent my entire career working in science and technology and look forward to working with emerging companies and investors to help create the companies, jobs and investment that the UK – and Norfolk – so urgently needs. These roles will take up a fraction of the time I spent as a minister while also being an effective local MP – as a backbencher I have had more time both for the constituency, family and many charitable causes.”
Labour’s crackdown on second jobs
Last month, the new Labour government announced it will initiate a crackdown on MPs holding second jobs as part of a review aimed at addressing concerns over Westminster sleaze. A newly established “modernisation committee” is expected to propose several measures, including an immediate ban on consultancy roles for MPs and fines for former ministers who violate lobbying regulations.
Despite a request for details of which declared roles he has yet to start, Freeman has not provided any specific examples.
This article has been adapted from an article published by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
