Following the highly publicised financial interests of George Osborne in recent years, we take a look at the financial interests of a selection of MPs after the recent updating of the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
Jacob Rees-Mogg co-founded Somerset Capital Management (SCM) in 2007. The London-based firm has recently established an investment fund in Ireland and is warning clients of the financial risk a hard Brexit may cause.
SCM has warned: “During, and possibly after, [Brexit] there is likely to be a considerable uncertainty as to the position of the UK and the arrangements which will apply to its relationships with the EU.”
This announcement causes embarrassment for the the influential Conservative MP who has repeatedly disregarded the financial concerns caused by Brexit.
Rees-Mogg is paid roughly £14,000-a-month for working 30 hours a month there.
Grant Shapps is recorded as the unpaid Chair of the Governance Board for OpenBrix Ltd from 1 July to 31 July 2018. However, the Conservative MP recently resigned from his position.
OpenBrix Ltd is a property website that uses blockchain to remove traditional estate agents. His resignation was timed just months prior to the company’s completion of a fundraising campaign that could bring in £19 million.
Grant Shapps declared his work unpaid on the Register of Member’s Financial Interests. However, the Financial Times have reported that he could have earned over £100,000 from the fundraising campaign.
The MP claims to have resigned because he doesn’t want to “overstretch” himself.
Sir Edward Leigh is a Conservative Party MP and Non-Executive Director of Europe Arab Bank. The company provides a range of banking and financial services in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and North Africa.
from October 2016 he received an annual salary of £74,000 in this role, for an expected monthly commitment of 20-30 hours.
John Baron is a director of Equi Ltd which runs an investment trust website.
The Conservative MP also receives £800 per month for a monthly investment column in the FT’s Investors’ Chronicle magazine. However, all fees are waived in lieu of FT donations to charities of Baron’s choice.
Richard Benyon is the director and Chair of the UK Water Partnership, a not for profit company set to promote the interests of the UK water sector. The Conservative MP has held this position since October 2015.
Benyon is paid £15,000 a year for an expected annual commitment of 12-14 days.
Conservative Party MP Nick Boles is contracted from May 2018 to May 2020 as the Non-Executive Director of Totemic Ltd. The company specialises in personal financial management and offers services such as insurances, mortgages and debt advice.
Boles will receive £30,000 per year for 16 hours of work per month.