News that outspoken Nottinghamshire MP Lee Anderson will get paid £100,000 a year by GB News to present a TV show has sparked a huge reaction. The member of parliament for Ashfield is also Conservative Party chairman and some commentators pointed out that he has previously criticised other MPs for taking on second jobs.
The annual fee, declared in an update to the MPs’ register of interests published on Wednesday, is a significant increase on the £200 weekly payment he received for appearing as a regular on Dan Wootton’s show. He has been outspoken on may issues including asylum seekers, calling for the return of the death penalty and saying people on Universal Credit are not in poverty.
He also famously claimed that meals could be cooked from scratch “for about 30 pence a day” in a comment criticising food banks. This later went on to earn him the nickname ‘30p Lee’.
