The leader of Reform UK is today exposed as Nine Jobs Nigel – and serving ordinary voters is Farage’s worst-paying gig.
Nigel Farage earns more than any other MP from outside jobs, banking a whopping £571,585 from side hustles – on top of his MPs salary – in less than six months. His typical constituent in Clacton would have to work full-time for 19 years straight to earn the same princely sum.
Farage trousers the most cash – nearly £8,000 an hour – flogging gold as a “tax-free” investment online. He makes the least – ironically – representing the people of Clacton in Westminster for as little as £28 an hour. Farage is comfortably out-earning the previous record holder for earning the most cash from outside jobs, the wealthy Tory MP and former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.
We work out how much Farage earns from his nine jobs by analysing his MP register of interests
The privately-educated former commodities trader also says that he devotes more hours – 22 a week – to his outside interest than any other MP in this Parliament. Farage has told the Commons authorities, who track his register of interests, that he has spent an estimated 572 hours earning extra cash since July. This is the same amount of time as the next five highest earning MPs devoted to their second jobs combined.
Farage told us: “These figures are nonsense. I work more hours a week than most people could even contemplate.” But Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, the Labour parliamentary candidate for Clacton, campaigner and political commentator, said: “It is an astonishing amount of money that Nigel Farage has earned this Parliament. The people he represents could never dream about having that so much money let alone earning it in six months.
“Does he understand how people are living in Clacton and around the country? We are still in the grip of a cost of living crisis. How can he be in tune with the needs of ordinary people when he doesn’t have any of the financial concerns we all have. The duty of an MP is to serve the interests of their constituents and being an MP is a full-time job.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (far right) with Labour Party candidate Jovan Owusu-Nepaul (centre) on the General Election night
(
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)
A recent report by think tank Onward found that “Clacton ranks among the top 1% of most deprived neighbourhoods, and nearby Jaywick Sands is the most deprived neighbourhood in England.” It found that Clacton’s high street hosts “almost no major brands or chains” and locals said the town centre was “a site of regular antisocial behaviour”. Recorded crime in 2023 was 40% higher in Clacton, with nearly 13 crimes per 100 people, than the rest of England. The local council boss said in 2023 that the life expectancy in Clacton was 18 years lower than in wealthier parts of Essex.
A spokesperson for the Clacton Labour party said: “We frequently receive correspondence from constituents frustrated by the lack of response from their MP and seeking advice on what to do. Our local Labour councillors have stepped up to shoulder the additional workload, with Farage’s focus elsewhere. Nigel promised to put Clacton on the main stage, but instead, it’s just him in the spotlight, leaving us knocking at the stage door. It’s time he fulfilled his commitments as Clacton’s MP.”
We have analysed six months of Farage’s parliamentary register of interests to work out which of his side hustles earns him the most. 60-year-old Farage’s best paying gig is as a “brand ambassador” for “tax-free” gold investment firm Direct Bullion. He recently declared £189,300 worth of earnings from Direct Bullion for working a maximum of four hours a month since he was elected MP. That works out at almost £8,000 an hour, but he says it “includes payment for work undertaken prior to my election”.
Nigel Farage works four hours month as a “brand ambassador” recommending gold coins and bars from Direct Bullion
(
Image:
https://www.directbullion.com/)
Farage’s other most lucrative jobs are as a TV presenter on GB News, for which he earns £2,494 an hour, as a public speaker, which bags him £2,179 an hour, and recording personalised video messages on the app Cameo, for which he trousers £563 an hour. We have tried to work out how much an hour Farage gets from his MP’s wage of £1,750 a week.
He does not have to declare how many hours he gives to that job. But he tells us he is a workaholic, working from early morning until late at night, seven days a week. Assuming he puts in 12 hour days, and allowing for the time he gives his eight other jobs, this would work out at £28 an hour, making being a politician Farage’s least lucrative career move.
Farage told us: “I have no personal income but have a company that has outgoings and income and pays people.” Farage has previously complained about the system for registering MP’s interests, saying “I’m not a PAYE person”. He said: “The whole parliamentary reporting system for income is a load of nonsense because I’m not a PAYE person. I’m being asked to publish gross income, including VAT, without offsetting what are pretty substantial costs.”
Nigel Farage earns almost £2,500 an hour as a presenter on GB News
(
Image:
@Nigel_Farage/Twitter)
It is understood that Farage pays his earnings into his company Thorn In the Side Limited, which is worth £1.3m. It has spent more than a million pounds buying two buy-to-let properties mortgage free. According to the Office of National statistics, the median wage in Clacton, before tax, is £579 a week. On that salary, it would take someone nearly working for 19 years full time to earn what Farage has been paid, part time, in just over five months.
Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster
It is not known how much rent Farage gets from his two buy-to-let properties, part of the wealth he recently told us he had “built up” since the EU referendum. He is currently renovating a third, part of his £3m property portfolio. Back in 2013, the Mirror revealed that Farage had set up an offshore trust in the Isle of Man and had put in it his 50% stake in Farage Limited, the investment firm he ran with his brother Andrew. But the politician insisted it had been a mistake and he had never used it. He told us: “I’m not rich enough to need one and I am never going to be.”
Farage Limited later went into liquidation, with Nigel Farage no longer a director, owing £103,000 to HMRC. The taxman got just 13% of this money back from the liquidation and Andrew Farage was found to have helped himself to “potentially unlawful dividends” of £124,000. Andrew “disputed the figures” but “never provided documentation to support his comments” and went bankrupt. The liquidators of the company only got £39,000 of the £124,000 back.
Be the first with news from Mirror Politics
BLUESKY: Follow our Mirror Politics account on Bluesky here. And follow our Mirror Politics team here – Lizzy Buchan, Jason Beattie, Kevin Maguire, Sophie Huskisson, Dave Burke, Ashley Cowburn, Mikey Smith
POLITICS WHATSAPP: Be first to get the biggest bombshells and breaking news by joining our Politics WhatsApp group here. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you want to leave our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
NEWSLETTER: Or sign up here to the Mirror’s Politics newsletter for all the best exclusives and opinions straight to your inbox.
PODCAST: And listen to our exciting new political podcast The Division Bell, hosted by the Mirror and the Express every Thursday.