Hague's golden gift of the gab

WILLIAM Hague made between £65,000 and £95,000 from speeches and hosting award ceremonies while the country plunged into recession.

The shadow foreign secretary earned the sum, on top of his MP's annual salary of £61,820, in just over two months at the end of last year.

Mr Hague is estimated to have amassed between £3million and £4million since he stood down as Tory leader after losing the 2001 general election.

This income from employment outside Parliament comes from more than 150 speeches, charging between £5,000 and £25,000 a time; remunerated directorships; work as a parliamentary adviser or political expert; a Sunday newspaper column; two books and other events.

The revelation sparked questions over whether politicians should be taking on substantial work beyond their parliamentary duties, especially when the country faces a dire economic situation. Labour MP John Spellar said: "The public will find it hard to imagine that at this time we have got a part-time opposition."

Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey added: "David Cameron cannot be happy one of his most senior spokespeople is continuing to ignore his attempts to stop Tory MPs taking up so much of their time with outside interests."

Mr Hague's declarations in the Commons register of members' interests show that between 19 September and 1December he earned between £65,000 and £95,000 from four speaking and two awards events. He picked up between £85,000 and £110,000 for six similar events in the first half of the year.

He was also paid between £45,001 and £50,000 as a parliamentary adviser to the JCB Group; between £25,001 and £30,000 as a member of the political council of Terra Firma Capital Partners and £10,001 to £15,000 as a parliamentary adviser to Dunalastair Ireland Ltd. He also registered two paid directorships but does not have to disclose how much he receives from this work.

Mr Hague said: "You can gain in your effectiveness as a politician from a wider acquaintance with the world and from a degree of independence that having outside interests gives." He stressed that he had made more speeches in Parliament this year than any previous year and denied Mr Cameron had sought to ban MPs from having second jobs.

A Tory spokesman added: "He is a very hard-working Member of Parliament. He has reduced his outside interests and will continue to do so in 2009."

Mr Cameron had reportedly considered telling his shadow Cabinet members to rein in lucrative outside work as hopes grew of forming the next government.

He is said to have stepped back from such a move because of the apparent threat of a revolt - raising speculation he may be preparing to bring former chancellor Ken Clarke, who has a string of well-paid outside interests, back into the shadow cabinet.

His 2008 earnings

MPs declare income from employment in £5,000 bands.

Advisory roles - Parliamentary adviser to the JCB Group (£45,001-£50,000)

Member of the political council of Terra Firma Capital Partners (£25,001-£30,000)

Parliamentary adviser to Dunalastair Ireland Ltd (£10,001-£15,000)

Public engagements 30 January: hosted the European Venture Capital Journal Awards in London (£15,001-£20,000)

7 February: hosted the Legal Business Awards in London (£15,001-£20,000)

8 March: speech at Halliwell's Partners Conference in Brussels (£20,001-£25,000)

2 May: speech at Baker Tilly National Partners' Conference in London (£10,001-£15,000)

7 May: speech at Barclays Capital Markets Dinner in London (£10,001-£15,000)

7 June: speech at a lunch in London hosted by Orange Business Services (£10,001-£15,000)

19 September: speech at the Azur Business Networking Lunch in London (£10,001-£15,000)

8 October: speech at the Mortgage Intelligence Annual Conference dinner in Newport (£10,001-£15,000)

16 October: speech at the South Wales Society of Chartered Accountants Annual Dinner in Cardiff (£10,001-£15,000)

12 November: speech at the Annual Dinner of the Association of Corporate Treasurers in London (£10,001-£15,000)

27 November: hosted the Growing Business Awards in London (£10,001-£15,000)

1 December: hosted the Institute of Turnaround Professionals' Awards Dinner in London (£15,001-£20,000)

Mr Hague has two paid directorships but does not have to disclose earnings from these. They are with AES Engineering, Rotherham, and AMT-SYBEX Group Ltd, Dublin (non-executive). He also has a contract with HarperCollins Publishers to write a book about William Wilberforce.

Source: Commons Register of Members' Interests (17 December edition)