Former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell earns £182k from half a dozen consultancy jobs

Former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell is paid £182,000 on top of his MP’s salary for six different consultancy jobs.

He is one of 30 MPs earning thousands of pounds extra a year for work as consultants – prompting calls for the practice to be banned.

Ex-international development secretary gets paid to work for wealth manager Investec two days a calendar year, and for strategic consulting Montrose Associates eight days a calendar year.

Former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell (pictured) is paid £182,000 on top of his MP’s salary for six different consultancy jobs

He also advises consultants Ernst & Young for up to five days a year, investment managers Arch Emerging Markets Partners Ltd for 2.5 days, investment bank SouthBridge for nine days and private equity firm Kingsley Capital Partners for eight days.

Tory MP and former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson quit the Commons last week after a row over a report that found he committed an ‘egregious’ breach of a centuries-old ban on paid lobbying by MPs.

He repeatedly lobbied ministers and officials for two firms, Randox and Lynn’s Country Foods, that paid him more than £100,000 a year.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party had ‘long called’ for the MPs’ code of conduct to ban ‘paid directorships and consultancy roles’ for serving members.

Sir Keir added: ‘A change along these lines has been recommended by the independent Committee for Standards in Public Life.’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party had ‘long called’ for the MPs’ code of conduct to ban ‘paid directorships and consultancy roles’ for serving members