Shadow Cabinet to give up all outside interests by the end of December
Speaking at his monthly press conference, David Cameron has announced that the Shadow Cabinet will relinquish all outside interests by the end of Decemebr.
He said that outside interests "can be a good thing" for MPs, and cited examples of the former doctor who wants to update their qualifications, the farmer who retains the farm, the entrepreneur who wants to retain an interest in the business he has built up etc.
He added: "I don't think a chamber full of professional politicians is a good thing" and said that the main thing was that MPs should be judged by what they do for their constituents and that it was perfectly possible to have an outside interest and be a good MP (just as there are idle MPs with no outside interests). It is imperative, however, that the public have all the relevant information.
He went on to announce that the shadow cabinet now recognised that at this particular period towards the end of the Parliament, it was important that they focused on their portfolios and that they have decided that from the end of December they will relinquish all outside interests. This applies to all MPs in the Shadow Cabinet and Lord Strathclyde (who does draw a salary as opposition leader in the Lords), but not Baronesses Warsi and Neville-Jones.
I welcome this announcement - having written on Friday that I believed the time was coming where the Shadow Cabinet owed it to the public to concentrate on preparing for government.
Additionally, the party is publishing today the details of the shadow cabinet's outside interests which will be publicly available on Wednesday. 12.45pm Update - they are as below.
Jonathan Isaby
The remaining shadow cabinet outside interests as of July 1st 2009 are as follows:
Ken Clarke
Amount paid: £38,000 a year
Nature of work carried out: Non-executive Director of the company
Number of hours worked for that payment: It varies according to events, but approximately 1 day per month
Name and address of organisation/company: Independent News & Media plc, Independent House, 2023 Bianconi Avenue, CityWest Business Campus, Naas Road, DUBLIN 24
Amount paid: £7,500 a year
Nature of work carried out: Member of the Advisory Board
Number of hours worked for that payment: It varies according to demand for advice, but approximately ½ day per month.
Name and address of organisation/company: AgCapita Partners, 400, 2424-4th Street SW, Calgary, ALBERTA T2S 2T4, Canada.
Amount paid: £3,000
Nature of work carried out: Presenting Jazz programmes
Number of hours worked for that payment: Two days per annum (recording 4 x 30 minute programmes ).
Name and address of organisation/company: BBC Radio Four, Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA.
Michael Gove
Amount paid: £5,000 a month
Nature of work carried out: Journalism
Number of hours worked for that payment: 1 hour a week or so
Name and address of organisation/company: Times Newspaper, News International, 1, Virginia Street, London E98 1XY
Amount paid: £250 a week
Nature of work carried out: Journalism
Number of hours worked for that payment: 1 hour a week or so
Name and address of organisation/company: Scotland on Sunday, Johnston Press, 53 Manor Place, Edinburgh EH3 7EG
Amount paid: £400 an article
Nature of work carried out: Journalism
Number of hours worked for that payment: 1 hour a week every 6 weeks or so
Name and address of organisation/company: Building Magazine, United Business Media Limited, Ludgate House, 245 Blackfriars Road, London, SE1 9UY
Amount paid: £166.67 per month
Nature of work carried out: Assistant Editor of the House Magazine
Number of hours worked for that payment: 30-45mins per week
Name and address of organisation/company: Dods, Westminster Tower, 3rd Floor, 3 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7SP
Amount paid: £675 for each programme
Nature of work carried out: Media appearances
Number of hours worked for that payment: 2 hours per programme for broadcast plus variable preparation time.
Name and address of organisation/company: BBC TV Centre, Wood Lane, London W12 7TS
Misc: Royalties from books.
VAT registered, so charges VAT on articles.
William Hague
Amount paid: £50,000 a year
Nature of work carried out: After 1st July remaining interests with JCB will be one more board meeting before leaving them 31 July.
Number of hours worked for that payment: n/a
Name and address of organisation/company: JCB World Headquarters, Rocester, Staffordshire, ST14 5JP
Amount paid: £25,000 a year
Nature of work carried out: Two more board meetings before leaving them 30 September.
Number of hours worked for that payment: n/a
Name and address of organisation/company: AES Engineering, Global Technology Centre, Bradmarsh Business Park, Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Misc: One remaining paid speech - £15,000
Jeremy Hunt
Amount paid: £12,000 a year
Nature of work carried out: Business advice to company he founded
Number of hours worked for that payment: 2 hours each week
Name and address of organisation/company: Hotcourses Ltd. 150-152 King Street, London , W6 0QU
Andrew Lansley
Amount paid: £25,000 a year
Nature of work carried out: Non-executive Director of the company, the functions of a Director
Number of hours worked for that payment: 1 day per month
Name and address of organisation/company: Profero Ltd, Centro, 3 Mandela Street. London. NW1 0DU
Oliver Letwin
Amount paid: £145 per hour
Nature of work carried out: Corporate finance advice
Number of hours worked for that payment: 8 hours per week out of a total 80 hour week including Parliamentary and constituency duties.
Name and address of organisation/company: NM Rothschild and Son Ltd, New Court, Saint Swithin’s Lane, EC4P 4DU
Francis Maude
Amount paid: £21,600 per year
Nature of work carried out: non-executive chairman
Number of hours worked for that payment: Chairing six board meetings a year and the AGM; 10 hours a month including evening and weekends.
Name and address of organisation/company: The Mission Marketing Group PLC, Long Acre, London, WC2
Amount paid: $17,000 per year
Nature of work carried out: Non-executive Director
Number of hours worked for that payment: Attending two board meetings a year in the US and around nine by telephone; around 72 hours for each US board meeting, and around three hours a month in addition, mostly in the evenings and weekends
Name and address of organisation/company: UTEK Inc, Tampa, Florida USA
Amount paid: £36,700
Nature of work carried out: Member of Asia-Pacific Advisory Committee
Number of hours worked for that payment: Attending one or two meetings a year, usually overseas, and occasional additional consultation; around six days a year on average
Name and address of organisation/company: Barclays Bank PLC, London
Andrew Mitchell
Amount paid: £36,000 a year
Nature of work carried out: Consultancy
Number of hours worked for that payment: Between 1-2 hours per week
Name and address of organisation/company: Accenture, 60 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4N 4TW
Amount paid: Approx £7,500 a year plus small profit share
Nature of work carried out: Advisory board member
Number of hours worked for that payment: 2 hours per month
Name and address of organisation/company: The Foundation, 4th Floor, 5-7 Carnaby Street, London, W1F 9PB
Eric Pickles
Amount paid: £12,000 per year
Nature of work carried out: Adviser to the Royal British Legion Industries, Business strategy
Number of hours worked for that payment: 1 day per month subject to Parliamentary business
Name and address of organisation/company: Royal British Legion Industries, Hall Road, Aylesford, Kent ME20 7NL
David Willetts
Amount paid: £60,000 per year which includes £30,000 for next six months
Nature of work carried out: Adviser on pensions
Number of hours worked for that payment: 40 days a year
Name and address of organisation/company: Punter Southall, 126 Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 4UJ
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