‘Nine-jobs Nigel’: Farage denies not declaring extra earnings to Parliament

After becoming MP for Clacton in July last year, the Reform UK leader chalked up a monthly average of at least £48,000 just from his regular roles outside parliament, including presenting on GB News, columns for the Telegraph, videos on Cameo and activity on X.

He also registered occasional interests such as a well-paid brand ambassador of gold trader Direct Bullion and various speaking gigs. In total, Farage has registered close to £1m from second jobs since July 2024, making him the highest-earning MP.

However, his MP register has not been updated since 31 May, despite continuing activity on all these platforms, as well as the speaker circuit.

In May, he travelled to Las Vegas to give a “fireside chat” at a Bitcoin conference, where he announced that Reform would start accepting crypto donations, as well as “exclusively” unveiling plans for legislation that would usher in a “crypto revolution”.

At the start of last month, he travelled to Washington to speak before Congress, flanked by Reform party staff. Neither of these trips appears in his register, despite being outside the strict 28-day window.

A spokesman for Farage said: “All declarations have been made for any earnings outside of Parliament.”

In addition, Farage has never declared his stake in All Perspectives, the parent company of GB News. Through his company Thorn in the Side, Farage has received nearly 500,000 shares in the media firm while promoting its activities both in parliament and on the world stage.

In February, he attended the right-wing conference CPAC in the US in a dual role as Reform leader and GB presenter. He wore a GB News pin while at Congress, and has highlighted “research” conducted by journalists at the channel in parliament without declaring his interests.

MPs must register any shareholdings above £70,000, however the code of conduct states that they should also record “any relevant financial interest or material benefit”, including a sub-threshold shareholding that “meets the test of relevance; in other words, that it might reasonably be thought by others to influence a member’s actions or words as a member”.

At least 13 other MPs have registered sub-threshold shareholdings in firms such as wealth management and an adventure leisure company.

Reform did not address this in its response.

Steve Goodrich, head of investigations at Transparency International, told The Observer: “MPs are supposed to report potential conflicts of interest between their official duties and private financial affairs. There is a clear public interest in showing that a high-profile politician has significant shares in a media company that is, in turn, providing them with a prime time show.

“Given investors will want to see a return on their outlay, it is reasonable to assume this stake may influence his behaviour as a parliamentarian.”

Wendy Chamberlain, the Liberal Democrats’ chief whip, agreed. “We’ve always known Farage’s top priority is his wallet not his constituents – whether raking in cash for Cameos or from his prime time spot on GB News,” she told The Observer.

“If he is using his privileged position to promote the work of a company he’s got vested financial interests in to Parliament, those interests should be properly declared. To do otherwise is a serious breach of our rules.”

A spokesperson for Labour added: “Nine-jobs Nigel would rather be doing pretty much anything other than representing his Clacton constituents. If he wants to hold public office, he must play by the rules – it’s the least the British public expect. He needs to come clean and clarify whether he’s broken any rules here by failing to declare his interests to Parliament.”

Photograph by James Manning/PA