MP who earned £450,000 as a barrister accused of 'bunking off'
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Version 0 of 1. A Tory MP has made nearly £500,000 after spending more than a thousand hours in 13 months working as a barrister, provoking allegations that he is not serious about his political career. At the same time as earning £67,060 per year plus expenses representing Torridge and West Devon, Geoffrey Cox has devoted 1,130 hours since 1 September 2013 to six commercial-law cases. In total he has spent the equivalent of more than 100 10-hour days on legal work during recess but also when Parliament was sitting, earning as much as £1,333 per hour to make a total of £452,545. Last night, Tamasin Cave, the director of the pressure group Spinwatch, alleged: “He’s not just moonlighting – he seems to be bunking off work as an MP to focus on his other job as a barrister. “If I was one of his constituents, I would want to fire him. Being an MP is a serious job but he doesn’t seem to regard it as such.” Mr Cox, an MP since 2005, makes the most money through professional outside interests, as opposed to investments, of any member of the Commons. His earnings average out at almost £35,000 per month on top of his MP’s salary. Last night, he defended the money he has made from his legal work, arguing that “people are kept in employment” as a result of his work who “contribute in taxes”. He added: “Each year, I pay income tax back to the public that exceeds my gross salary as an MP, while I still work average 50- to 60-hour weeks in and for the constituency.” Mr Cox’s attendance record in Parliament is below the average for most MPs, but it shows that from September 2013 to October 2014, he was present on 69 days when a vote was being taken on government legislation – which is roughly two-thirds of the overall total of days when there will have been a whipped vote. According to figures published by the House of Commons last month, Mr Cox spent 160 hours working on a case between 1 March and 30 June. For this he was paid £105,750 – £661 per hour. He took on another case beginning on 1 May and ending on 31 August which absorbed 200 hours of his time. It paid £136,200 – £681 per hour. Mr Cox picked up £40,000 for spending 30 hours on a case between 1 April and 31 July. This earned him his highest fee – £1,333 per hour. “My outside work is professional consultancy work as a Queen’s Counsel,” Mr Cox said. “On average I spend around 15-20 hours per week on this, the majority of which is done at weekends or during parliamentary recesses.” |