Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton, earned £270,000 for 12 hours' work promoting Direct Bullion, a gold dealer — equivalent to £22,500 an hour. That disclosure, made in the official register of MPs' interests, has reignited debate about whether parliamentarians should be allowed to hold lucrative second jobs while serving their constituents.
Under Commons rules, MPs are permitted to take on additional paid work outside their parliamentary duties, but they must register any income over £300 per year. They are banned from providing paid parliamentary advice or lobbying, and the rules are designed to ensure transparency about potential conflicts of interest. Farage has registered several side incomes since becoming an MP in 2024, including around £18,402 a year as a presenter for GB News and more than £80,000 from filming personalised messages on the Cameo platform, which he paused in March 2026 citing security reasons.
“Nigel Farage's £270k gold bullion earnings raise questions about MPs' second jobs and financial rules.”
Farage's financial disclosures have faced particular scrutiny because of a separate undeclared £5m gift he received from the Thailand-based cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne. Farage has argued he did not need to declare the gift because he received it before he was elected to Parliament and it was not a political donation. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating whether he broke the rules. The total earnings Farage has declared from Direct Bullion, the gold dealer he acts as a brand ambassador for, now stands at £685,500, according to the register of MPs' interests.
Direct Bullion, founded in 2016, sells physical precious metals — gold coins, bullion bars and silver — from an office in London's Mayfair district. It markets gold as a safe haven for wealth in uncertain economic times, even suggesting it as part of a pension investment. The company's net assets are £2.6m, about four times what it has paid Farage to date, and its revenue was £17m in 2022, according to the Financial Times list of Europe's fastest-growing companies. Direct Bullion does not hold large reserves of physical gold; it acts as a dealer and broker, sourcing coins and bars from mints and suppliers.
For UK readers, the Farage case highlights broader questions about the appropriateness of MPs holding second jobs. Critics argue that such arrangements can divert attention from parliamentary duties and create conflicts of interest. Labour chair Anna Turley said Farage should be focused on "putting more pounds back in his Clacton constituents' pockets rather than racking up payments off the back of gold sales." Supporters point out that MPs are allowed to have careers outside politics and that full transparency is maintained through the register of interests. The rules themselves are clear, but the scale of Farage's earnings — £270,000 for the equivalent of 12 hours' advisory work — has drawn particular attention.
Q: Are MPs allowed to have second jobs? Yes, MPs are allowed to take on paid work outside Parliament, as long as it does not involve providing paid parliamentary advice or lobbying. They must register any income that exceeds £300 per year in the official register of members' financial interests.
Q: What is Direct Bullion? Direct Bullion is a London-based company that sells physical gold and silver coins and bars. It acts as a dealer and broker, sourcing products from mints and suppliers, and markets precious metals as a way to store wealth, including for pension investments.
Q: Why is Nigel Farage being investigated over a £5m gift? Nigel Farage received a £5m gift from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne before becoming an MP. He did not declare it, arguing it was a personal gift made before his election. The Parliamentary Standards Commissioner is investigating whether he broke Commons rules requiring MPs to register financial interests going back 12 months before their election.
What happens next depends on the outcome of the standards investigation. If Farage is found to have broken the rules, he could face sanctions ranging from a requirement to apologise to suspension from the Commons. Separately, the broader debate about MPs' second jobs is likely to continue, with public opinion appearing to lean towards tighter regulation. Polling by Survation for the campaign group 38 Degrees found that 68% of Britons were concerned the £5m gift gave Harborne "inappropriate influence" over Farage's political decisions. The Reform UK leader has also seen his party's poll ratings drift down to 25% after a series of by-election disappointments, adding political pressure to the financial questions.