Tory MP Says He Quit £120,000 Ministerial Job As Couldn't Afford Mortgage Hike
George Freeman: "My mortgage rises this month from £800pcm to £2,000, which I simply couldn’t afford to pay on a Ministerial salary."
A Conservative MP has revealed he quit his £120,000-a-year ministerial job last year because he could not afford soaring mortgage costs.
George Freeman, who resigned as science minister in November, said his repayments jumped from £800 a month to £2,000.
The MP for Mid Norfolk would have been receiving an annual salary of around £118,300.
As an MP, his salary is £86,584 – but he is free to take up a lucrative second job if free of the ministerial work.
Mortgage rates have spiralled as the Bank of England hike interest rates to curb inflation, while the Liz Truss’s disastrous stint as PM added a premium to mortgage woes.
In a Substack blog post last week, he wrote: “Why did I stand down?
“Because my mortgage rises this month from £800pcm to £2,000, which I simply couldn’t afford to pay on a Ministerial salary.
“That’s political economy 2.0.
“We’re in danger of making politics something only Hedge Fund Donors, young spin doctors and failed trade unionists can afford to do.”
Freeman also told The New Statesman on Monday his finances “are not what they were – at all”, having gone through “a very painful divorce” and with parents “who are both getting elderly”.
