The former PM has earned over £500,000 from second jobs since the 2024 election
Former Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak has taken another new job – this time as a business columnist at the Sunday Times.
Sunak, who is still the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, has taken on an array of jobs outside Parliament.
This comes despite his promise to spend more time in the “greatest place on Earth”, his constituency, during his final appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions as Tory leader.
The former PM will write a weekly column in the business section of the paper, starting this weekend.
He will write on subjects including technology, politics and the economy.
Sunak’s fee will be paid to The Richmond Project, an education charity which he and his wife Akshata Murty founded in March this year. The couple have a net worth of around £640 million.
Earlier this month, it emerged that Sunak accepted a further two paid adviser roles at Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic.
Sunak joined the Washington Speakers Bureau, a high-profile speaking agency representing political and business figures earlier this year.
In May, he made nearly £188,500 for just four hours of work, speaking at an event hosted by South Korea’s Chosun Media.
He also received more than £156,435 from the California-based investment firm Makena Capital. In addition, he earned £160,750 for a three-hour speaking engagement for Bain Capital in Boston.
In July this year, he joined Goldman Sachs as a senior adviser. He has yet to declare any income from this role.
Sunak has also taken on roles at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and Stanford’s Hoover Institution, which he said are unpaid.
However, his register of interests shows he was paid over £81,000 for “60 hours” by the Hoover Institution.
The entry states: “This payment is purely to cover expenses so not for hours worked.”
This brings Sunak’s earnings from second jobs since July 2024 to nearly £587,000, making him the second-highest paid MP after Nigel Farage.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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