A NORTH Yorkshire MP earns £3,000 an hour through his work consulting for an energy firm.

Julian Smith, the MP for Skipton and Ripon, earns £144,000 for 62-84 hours’ work for three companies, according to declarations made to Parliament.

Other additional work earning MPs extra income include Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison’s show on GB news, for which she earns £369 a week.

In the North East, 12 MPs received some sort of income from a variety of sources, while three North Yorkshire MPs declared additional income.

Read more: On the money trail to see where MPs’ cash come from

Nationally, more than 200 MPs have received earnings in the last year on top of their £81,932 salary – ranging from £50 a year to almost £1m.

A recent survey by Savanta ComRes found one in five adults in the UK support MPs having a second job while almost half – 46 per cent – oppose it.

The highest earner in the region was Mr Smith. He is set to earn £60,000 for 20 hours of work for Ryse Hydrogen Ltd, which transports and distributes green hydrogen, between August and next July.

Also among his declarations is £60,000 for 30-40 hours work for MJM Marine, a Northern Ireland-based marine refurbishment and fitting, property and renewables company, and £2,000 a month for 1-2 hours advising Simply Blue Management.

Mr Smith did not respond to requests for a comment.

Read more: FULL LIST: The North East MPs raking in thousands in donations and second jobs

Kevin Hollinrake, who represents Thirsk and Malton, said not allowing MPs to hold additional jobs would deter good people from entering politics.

The Conservative MP, who co-founded Hunters Property in 1992, was earning a £50,000 salary for 192 hours of work at the company until March. He also had a car allowance of £9,000.

In March, he received £32,000 as six months’ pay in lieu of notice.

Mr Hollinrake said: “Second jobs should not interfere or take priority over the important work of representing constituents, constituency and national policy-making process.

“However, if we now expect MPs to forego previous connections, such as business interests, working as a doctor, nurse, journalist or lawyer, then we will deter good people with important experiences from considering entering the world of politics.”

Julian Sturdy, the Conservative MP for York Outer, earns £500 a month. He is partner at GE Sturdy and Sons, a farming partnership in Wetherby.

Ms Davison, who set up her own public relations and communications company in September 2020, declared earning £369 a week for her show The Political Correction, which launched in June - amounting to earnings of more than £8,000 so far.

She was also paid £500 for an article published in the Sun last November.

Darlington MP Peter Gibson, who was managing director of Coles Solicitors until his election, still carries out a small about of administrative work for Clark Willis LLP law firm, which is based in Bondgate, Darlington.

He was paid £800 for just under 14 hours of work. He said: “My register of interests is accurate and up to date. As a qualified solicitor with a current practising certificate I perform a small amount of administrative work in relation to powers of attorney, estates, deputyships that I have been appointed to over my legal career. All earnings from this work is reported and detailed in the register.”

Nine MPs declared earnings from carrying out surveys for companies including Ipsos Mori, Savanta ComRes and YouGov, with total amounts earned varying from £275 to £2,565.

They were Matt Vickers, Alex Cunningham, Jacob Young, Liz Twist, Bridget Phillipson, Nicholas Brown, Chi Onwurah, Catherine McKinnell and Emma Lowell Buck.

Mr Cunningham, Ms Twist, Ms Phillipson paid the money earned to their constituency Labour parties.

Mrs Lewell-Buck said income from surveys she took part in were paid to her campaign fund.

Mr Brown said the £275 he earned was paid to a “local initiative”. He said: "None of the entries provide any payment to me. I do not have any outside financial interests. I am a full time MP."

Mr Vickers and Mr Young did not disclose where the earnings they received were paid to.

All MPs were contacted for comment