Tory MP put in four times the hours earning profits for his hedge fund last year than meeting constituents at surgeries.

Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said “it is the job of a Member of Parliament to help as much as he can” with constituents’ problems, but put in four times the hours earning profits for his hedge fund last year than meeting constituents at surgeries.

In a video for the 2017 General Election, Rees-Mogg says that “very often, the MP is the last port of call” when it comes to helping with problems, and that “it is the job of a Member of Parliament to help as much as he or she can”.

But the Register of Interests reveals that Rees-Mogg spent a total of 365 hours working for his hedge funds Somerset Capital Management last year, earning a total of £176,543.

In contrast, Rees-Mogg’s website shows that he averages three surgeries for constituents a month, while a Facebook event suggests that each lasts two-and-a-half hours, making for an estimated total of 90 hours working at surgeries in his constituency last year.

That means Rees-Mogg puts in four times the hours for his hedge fund than he does for his constituents at surgeries, despite his promise to “help as much as he can”. With the annual wage from his hedge fund that’s more than double his £76,000 wage as an MP, it’s a no-brainer for multi-millionaire Rees-Mogg.