Nadine Dorries salary: How Culture Secretary earned £157k from writing books

Lindsay Hoyle scolds Nadine Dorries for BBC media leak

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After the resignation of ex-Tory MP Owen Paterson last November, MPs were thrust into the spotlight in regards to their earnings outside of Parliament. The Culture Secretary was one of a number of Conservative politicians who it transpired had profited significantly from her second job. So, what exactly is her salary?

As of April 1, 2020, the annual salary for an MP has been £81,932.

In addition, MPs receive expenses to cover costs for a number of other services.

This includes running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.

However, according to the MPs register of financial interests, Ms Dorries has declared the tenth highest earnings of any Conservative politician since the 2019 UK general election.

Figures demonstrate the 64-year-old pocketed around £157,000 as a result of her exploits as an author.

So far, Ms Dorries has sold over 2.5 million copies of the 15 books she has written in total.

Her first book was published in 2014 – nine years after her election to parliament as the MP for Mid Bedfordshire.

A Sunday Times top 10 best-selling author, her latest book – A Wicked Woman – was released last August.

Head of Zeus, Ms Dorries’ publisher, labelled her most recent publication as an “ambitious and exciting departure for one of our most brilliant storytellers”.

Her books often feature as part of a series and are known for featuring misery, poverty and abuse, followed by a happy ending of some description.

Prior to becoming an MP, she founded a successful child day-care company aimed at working parents, in 1987.

The business was sold to Bupa – a health insurance company – a year later, with Ms Dorries subsequently becoming a director at the firm.

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After a pay rise was suspended in 2021 due to the economic impacts of the Covid pandemic, MPs could see their annual salary increased this year

Typically, they see their earnings rise annually in line with average public sector salary increases.

MPs would see their pay packets grow by 2.7 percent – more than £2,000 – from April 1 if the rise went ahead in 2022.

This date also represents the same time the Government’s hike in National Insurance payments comes in.

How did Nadine Dorries get into politics?

Initially, Ms Dorries’ first foray into politics was an unsuccessful one as she failed to win the Hazel Grove seat – Greater Manchester – during the 2001 UK general election.

Indeed, it wasn’t until four years later that she was first elected as an MP for Mid Bedfordshire, where she has remained to this day.

Between 2019 and 2021, Ms Dorries held the position of Minister of State for Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Patient Safety.

Then, during Boris Johnson’s last Cabinet reshuffle, in September 2021, she was appointed to succeed Oliver Dowden as Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

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