The Birmingham MPs with second incomes and roles

Parliament is considering a new rule which would bar MPs from taking up positions as consultants or advisers outside their parliamentary work.

The rule being discussed by the standards committee would ban members of the House of Commons from taking high-paying jobs as consultants. In Birmingham two MPs currently have secondary consultancy roles.

Sutton Coldfield MP Andrew Mitchell and Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr both carry out consultancy work, which they are fully permitted to do.

Six other MPs have secondary roles, but don’t do paid consultancy work.

It’s not currently against the rules for MPs to earn money for work as advisors or consultants, but they can’t lobby the government on behalf of the companies.

The new rules are being considered after Shropshire MP Owen Paterson was found to have breached parliamentary code after lobbying for two companies who had paid him as a consultant.

Mr Paterson subsequently resigned from his post following controversy surrounding his suspension from the House of Commons being blocked by the government, which was then forced into a U-turn on the decision following a fierce backlash.

Birmingham MPs second incomes

Here is a list of Birmingham MPs second incomes and roles - only Mr Mitchell and Mr Mahmood hold consultancy roles.

All MPs record this information in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.

Andrew Mitchell (Conservative, Sutton Coldfield)

Senior adviser to Investec; remuneration of £12,000 plus VAT a year, with an expected time commitment of approximately two days a year.

Senior adviser to Montrose Associates; remuneration of £9,000 plus VAT a quarter (£36,000 a year) with an expected time commitment of two days a quarter (eight days a year).

Consultant with Ernst & Young; £30,000 plus VAT a year, in return for up to five days.

Adviser providing general business advice to Arch Emerging Partners Ltd; £15,000 plus VAT a year, plus commission for introducing any new business, in return for 2.5 days’ work.

Senior adviser on African matters to SouthBridge, an investment bank providing pan-African financial and advisory solutions for clients across Africa. Remuneration of £39,600, which includes withholding tax, in return for a commitment of 9 days a year.

Senior adviser to Kingsley Capital Partners (a private equity and venture capital firm); Remuneration of £50,000 plus VAT for the year and shares and options in Equinox International Holdings Limited, 0.5% in total vesting biannually over 3 years; and shares in Himalayan Ventures Limited, 0.5% in total vesting biannually over 5 years. Hours: 8 days a year.

This comes to £182,600 forfor 34.5 days.

Khalid Mahmood (Labour, Perry Barr)

Consultant to Policy Exchange (think tank); £25,000 a year for providing advice on extremism, social cohesion and apprenticeships/vocational training. Hours: between 0 and 15 hrs a month.

Preet Gill (Labour Edgbaston)

Unpaid ambassador for Spring Housing Association.

Tahir Ali (Labour, Hall Green)

Also receives annual allowance of £18,681 for his role as a Birmingham city councillor.

Liam Byrne (Labour, Hodge Hill)

Unpaid director of the Great Britain China Centre, non-departmental public body. He is also an unpaid governor at the Institute of Government, and an unpaid trustee of the Birmingham Museums and Arts Trust.

Gary Sambrook (Conservative, Northfield)

Also receives an annual allowance of £18,681 for his role as a Birmingham city councillor. He is also an unpaid director of Sambrook Roberts Ltd accountancy firm.

Steve McCabe (Labour, Selly Oak)

Mr McCabe is a landlord receiving rental income from a flat.

Jess Phillips (Labour, Yardley)

Ms Phillips receives some payments as an author. She received £16,572.06 from publishing company Simon and Schuster UK Ltd in April 2021, and £11,425 from them in July 2021. She slso receives payment for writing newspaper columns.

Shabana Mahmood (Labour, Ladywood)

Nil.

Jack Dromey (Labour, Erdington)

Nil.

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