MPs huge TV gigs explored as 'ban' considered - ITV gig to Rees-Mogg's own reality show
Labour leader Keir Starmer this week announced that the government is considering a ban on MPs hosting TV programmes as he attempts to crack down on those earning from lucrative second jobs.
Starmer, whose popularity plunged to a new record low this week, has set up a Committee to assess "whether paid outside engagements such as MP media appearances, journalism and speeches provide a benefit to the public or present a conflict of interest”.
It comes after Nigel Farage received a huge £1.5 million fee to appear on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! last year, making him the highest earning campmate ever in the programme's 21 year history.
And that followed ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock reportedly receiving £320,000 for his own stint on the show. However, the West Suffolk MP was suspended from the Conservative Party after he took time out from his parliamentary duties to make the controversial appearance.
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Ex-Health Secretary Matt Hancock (Image: GETTY)In light of that - and at a time when some were mourning the deaths of loved ones they hadn't been able to see due to the strict conditions of lockdown, some were unhappy when he additionally went on to earn a reported £48,000 for his book on the fiasco, Pandemic Diaries.
However, Hancock defended that he had donated £10,000 to charity. Jacob Rees-Mogg is another MP who has made huge earnings from television appearances.
He received a huge £732 per hour as a presenter, leading to a whopping wage of £324,121.44 in the last year - and left the House of Commons in May, after serving for North East Somerset for 14 years.
However, last year when he was still a MP, an investigation was opened by Ofcom into whether a May 2023 episode featuring him on GB News broke rules which "prevent politicians from acting as newsreaders in any news programmes, unless exceptionally, it is editorially justified".
It was later clarified that Ofcom found two episodes of Rees-Mogg's State of The Nation show to have broken rules of the Broadcast Code.
Rees-Mogg has also been filmed in the 17th century country home where he lives with his wife and six children.
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Meanwhile, viewers were stunned when they learned that he also had plans to host his own fly-on-the-wall reality TV show, which will air on Discovery+.
Filming by the production company Optomen has taken place in his Westminister townhouse, where his reaction to Rishi Sunak calling this year's election was documented while he was still an MP.
He previously stated that he was "flattered" to have been asked, while rumours swirl that the format will be similar to Tyson Fury's Netflix show At Home With The Furys.
He took to Twitter after a register of MP members' financial interests stated that he'd received £97,928 in a month from the channel.
"To be clear... the GB News sum paid to me and declared includes VAT, and was for several months of work. It was paid to my company, which has significant expenses," he explained.
The Clacton MP, who hopes to win the next election with his Reform UK party, had returned to GB News after cancelling his show during the general election.
window.topArticlesScript="https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/js/dist/article-top-articles20240911.min.js"MPs huge TV gigs explored as 'ban' considered - ITV gig to Rees-Mogg's own reality show
MPs huge TV gigs explored as 'ban' considered - ITV gig to Rees-Mogg's own reality show
MPs huge TV gigs explored as 'ban' considered - ITV gig to Rees-Mogg's own reality show
MPs huge TV gigs explored as 'ban' considered - ITV gig to Rees-Mogg's own reality show
MPs huge TV gigs explored as 'ban' considered - ITV gig to Rees-Mogg's own reality show
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