The Richest MPs in the UK Government

The current occupant of 10 Downing Street has a combined net worth with his wife, Akshata Murty. The pair currently ranks 275th on the Sunday Times rich list, down from 222nd in 2022, when their estimated net worth was a shocking £730 million.

Murty's fortune primarily stems from her £481.2 million stake in Infosys, a major Indian tech company co-founded by her father. Her family also holds a £900 million joint venture with Amazon in India, and she is the owner or shareholder at five other UK companies.

According to a summary of his taxes published in 2023, most of Rishi Sunak’s personal wealth is tied to a US blind trust, earning him a profit of £4 million between 2019 and 2022.

Sunak’s annual salary approximates £164,951, consisting of £80,807 for being the Prime Minister and £84,144 for being an MP. Nevertheless, considering his wealth mainly originates from family ties, his individual net worth remains unknown.

Rees-Mogg’s net worth ranges between £55 million and £150 million, according to the Daily Express. He owes most of his fortune to his investment portfolio, primarily through his 12% stake at Somerset Capital, an £8 billion investment firm he co-founded in 2007.

The Tory MP supposedly received a monthly sum of £15,000 from the firm in addition to his MP salary up to 2019, after which he remained a passive shareholder. He collected £800,000 in dividends in 2020, another £600,000 in 2021, and £500,000 in 2022.

Rees-Mogg is married to the future heiress of the Fitzwilliam family fortune, Helena de Chair, whose net worth is currently unknown. Once she receives her sizable inheritance of £45 million, the joint net worth of the Rees-Mogg family will surpass £100 million.

Nadim Zahawi’s net worth, combined with that of his wife, Lana Saib, is believed to be anywhere from £30 million to £100 million.

Before his political career, Zahawi co-founded the online polling company YouGov in 2010, which brought him a fortune close to £100 million. In 2015, he worked as chief strategy officer for Gulf Keystone Petroleum for an annual salary of £765,000.

Through their formerly co-owned company Zahawi & Zahawi, one of the richest Tory MPs and his wife, Lana Saib, own 17 commercial property titles and five personal properties — three in London, one in Warwickshire, and one in Dubai.

Through Zahawi & Zahawi, Lana Saib owns £18 million worth of land in the West Midlands and a £3.5 million industrial estate in Kent.

Considering he reported being a shareholder in 16 companies, it can be concluded that Alister Jack’s net worth of £20 million is mainly built on founding self-storage and tent hire companies. He’s the person to turn to for advice on how to start investing.

In 2017, the public criticised him for holding a stake of over £70,000 in Jardine Matheson Holdings in Bermuda, known as one of the world’s worst tax havens. Still, there was no evidence that the company avoided paying its taxes.

Like most top conservative MPs, the Scottish Secretary of State has a rich property portfolio of 1,600 acres of agricultural land, two cottages and a salmon fishery.

The answer to the question “Is Jeremy Hunt a millionaire?” lies in the company Hotcourses, an educational publishing business he co-founded in 1991. After selling the company for £30.1 million, Hunt cashed in his 48% stake and became a millionaire.

Hunt and his wife Lucia own the holding company Mare Pond Properties Ltd and used it to buy seven luxury flats. According to the Parliament Register, he owns a half-share of a holiday house in Italy and a half-share of a London office building.

Hunt is the second richest politician to ever hold the position of Chancellor, right after Rishi Sunak. Other wealthy Chancellors were Kwasi Kwarteng (£800,000 — £1,5 million, PM Liz Truss), George Osborne (£4 million, PM David Cameron), and Phillip Hammond (£8.2 million, PM Theresa May).

If you're curious about the earnings gap between MPs and the average worker, the answer is 17 times the national average. One of Truss’s highest rates was £20,000 per hour for a speech on global diplomacy in Taiwan — 1,500 times the average UK hourly rate.

Liz Truss’s personal wealth stems from multiple sources, and her net worth is approximately £8.4 million as of 2022. She’s been a member of Parliament since 2010, with an estimated annual salary of £84,144.

After spending 44 days as PM, she became eligible for a yearly allowance of £115,000 from the UK government, sparking controversy among her political peers. On top of that, the MP’s income is supported by her publishing career and a property portfolio.

Next on our list of the richest MPs, Sir Geoffrey Cox came under public scrutiny in 2021 after having reported £930,588 in earnings as a legal consultant. That same year, he contracted a £400,000 yearly retainer with the Withers LLP law firm in addition to his MP salary.

Cox has since been under fire for his advisory stint with the government of the British Virgin Islands during a public corruption inquiry. At the time, he provided his legal services for an hourly rate of £1,393, earning a total of £47,398.

Maintaining his status as one of the richest politicians among Tory MPs, Cox’s current Register of Financial Interests reports an annual retainer of £293,400 plus VAT with Withers LLP, as well as a number of additional payments from the law firm for other engagements.

His investment portfolio reveals he owns over 15% of issued share capital at the Thomas More International law firm and Thomas More Property Holdings Ltd.

According to reports from the beginning of 2023, May owes a significant portion of her profits outside Parliament to numerous public speaking events. For instance, she earned £408,200 for six speeches in California as part of the Cambridge Speaker Series.

May’s other notable pay cheques include a £107,600 speech delivered in November 2022, commissioned by the World Travel and Tourism Council, and a virtual talk for which she received £38,000 from MPSF (The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation).

Another former female PM among the conservative politicians in the UK puts all her earnings into her company, the Office of Theresa May Limited. The company pays her an annual salary of £85,000; the rest of her profits go to charity.