Tory MP climbs the greasy pole with £20,000 a month oil gig

Last year Nadhim Zahawi told Parliament in a debate on UK-Kurdistan bilateral relations that it should come as ‘no surprise’ that he has ‘significant interest’ in the region. Indeed only this summer, Zahawi — who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Kurdistan — led a cross-party group there which included a visit to an oil field which was run by a company that he has shares in.

Now the millionaire businessman has managed to boost his income significantly with a new part-time job relating to the area. After it was announced in July that Zahawi was joining the oil firm Gulf Keystone as chief strategy officer, the latest register of interests reveals just how much he is earning in return for advising the company on its Kurdistan operations.

From the 26 October 2015, the millionaire businessman will receive a monthly salary of £20,125 for his strategic advice. This will involve the Iraqi born politician putting in 8-21 hours per week, so at 8 hours a week he would be on a rate of roughly £629 per hour:

In fact presuming the Stratford-upon-Avon MP is still in the job a year from now, his annual earnings from the part-time role would come to an impressive £241,500, making his mere £74,000 salary as an MP — not to mention the Prime Minister’s own salary of £142,500 — look like small change.