TONY Baldry is charging up to £1,100 a hour for private work outside of Parliament, an Oxford Mail investigation has found.

The Mail has seen a current list of Oxfordshire MPs’ outside interests and it shows some are being paid for consultancy work, speaking and writing engagements and sitting as directors of private companies.

The House of Commons register of members’ interests also details what gifts have been received by the county’s six MPs.

Since July last year Mr Baldry, the Conservative MP for Banbury, earned £111,914.96 on top of his basic MP’s salary of £64,766.

He earned £48,749.96 from directorships of a number of private companies.

Of that total, he received £23,333.31 for 26 hours work attending meetings and advising on business opportunities in his role as deputy chairman of Woburn Energy plc.

He also earned £37,000 for 29 hours work between September and December from Sarosh Zaiwalla, a London-based solicitor, for advising a client.

He was paid £1,165 for giving advice to private clients in his capacity as a practising barrister.

And Mr Baldry, who has been in Parliament since 1983 and is a backbench MP, was paid £25,000 for chairing board meetings in 2009, a role that took a total of 24 hours.

The register also showed Mr Baldry visited Baghdad in May last year for a meeting with Iraqi ministers, a trip that was paid for by the Islamic Dawa Party.

Mr Baldry also holds shares in eight private companies, including Target Resources, a gold and diamond mining operation in Sierra Leone.

Mr Baldry said: “I have nothing to hide.

“Since July 1 we have had to record not just our outside interests and the number of hours we do but the payments we receive — and I have faithfully done that.

“When the house is sitting the average number of hours I do as an MP is at least 60 a week and about five to eight hours a week on outside interests.

“I am very happy this should be totally transparent.

“If we just had a House of Commons entirely full of career MPs it would be a lesser place.

“I am happy to be judged by my record as an MP at the General Election.”

The Witney MP and Conservative Party leader David Cameron does not hold any remunerated directorships, but has received a series of gifts, benefits and hospitality.

Mr Cameron has received helicopter and private plane travel from private companies and individuals in his role as Leader of the Opposition.

The register shows that Mr Cameron received flights, or donations towards flights, totalling £37,541.49 last year.

At Christmas, Mr Cameron received a hamper and silver goblets worth £3,500 from Lord Harris of Peckham, a fountain pen and cufflinks from His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain, a rug from president Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and a hamper from the Sultan of Brunei.

In September 2008 Mr Cameron registered with the Commons authorities that he received up to £15,000 for an advance on the publication of Cameron on Cameron: Conversations with Dylan Jones, although payment was donated to charity.

A spokesman for Mr Cameron said: “David Cameron regularly updates his entry in the register of members’ interests as is required by the rules and in the interests of transparency.

“As Leader of the Opposition, he travels a great deal and donated flights are declared in the register as is necessary.”

Last year, the Conservative MP for Wantage, Ed Vaizey, received £2,500 for 16 hours work attending four meetings of the work experience charity Trident Trust, which was bought out by Edexcel plc.

The register also showed he earned up to £5,000 for appearing on Channel Five’s The Wright Stuff. He also earned £11,800 from a series of speaking and writing engagements, but gave £8,000 of that money to charity.

In September 2008, Mr Vaizey visited China on a trip partly paid for by the Chinese Communist Party.

Mr Vaizey said: “I try to make sure my outside interests are not time-consuming — they are mainly writing.

“If outside interests interfere with the work of an MP, they should go.

“Most of my constituents know that I work seven days a week.

“The ultimate sanction is that if constituents don’t think you are doing a good job they can boot you out.”

Oxford East Labour MP Andrew Smith, who has no entries on the register of members’ interests, said: “I’ve always believed that serving as an MP is, and should be, a full-time job.

“It’s right that these things have to be declared and we are all accountable to our constituents who will make their own judgements.”

Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon – whose only entry on the register was the provision of an office rented at a reduced rate – said: “This is more than a full-time job, so I don’t understand how you can do another job with it.

“It’s more than well enough remunerated and therefore you shouldn’t need to supplement it. If you need more money you should not be in public service.

“I have never had a second paid job in 13 years in Parliament.

“If I am giving a talk as part of my job, I don’t charge the public sector.

“But if the private sector want to pay me I give the money to charity.”

John Howell, the Tory MP for Henley, who is an unpaid director of Media Presentation Consultants Ltd, said: “I have taken the view that in my case it is very difficult to do another job outside of Parliament. By the time I have got back to the constituency on a Thursday night I have done a 70-hour week.”

Mr Howell notified the Commons authorities that he earned £150 for giving a lecture in Westminster and a £50 wine voucher for a two-hour speaking engagement last year.

gsheldrick@oxfordmail.co.uk For more details log on to parliament.co.uk