SOUTH Shields MP David Miliband has earned £125,000 for 15 days work as a director of Sunderland AFC.
The payments, which cover his role as vice chairman and non-executive director of Sunderland AFC since his appointment in February 2011, are listed in the House of Commons’ Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
It shows five £25,000 payments received from the Black Cats between June 2011 and July last year. All are listed as for between two and four days’ work.
The register, updated on December 19, shows how since losing the 2010 Labour leadership battle to his younger brother, Ed, globetrotting Mr Miliband has registered nearly £1m of outside earnings.
The South Shields MP is now a regular speaker at business events and international summits across the world.
Mr Miliband’s outside earnings are on top of his basic MP’s salary of about £65,000 a year.
His football earnings prompted a dig from political rivals.
Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said: “With a fee like that you’d expect to see David Miliband on the pitch!
“Per appearance, he’s on a par with players like (Louis) Saha.
“Sunderland should red card this behaviour.”
In 2012, Mr Miliband also received £63,000 from the London Speaker Bureau for speaking at four events in Chennai, Oslo and London.
The register also shows that he received two Olympic tickets worth £840 from Prudential Plc last year.
In addition, he recieved payments up to £117,000 from energy investment company VantagePoint Capital Partners and was also paid almost £65,000 from the United Arab Emirates ministry of foreign affairs. Other earnings included his role as a senior global advisor to both Oxford Analytica and Indus Basin Holdings.
The locations of Mr Miliband’s visits over the last year included Pakistan, the US, South Sudan, Qatar, Singapore and Jordan.
Mr Miliband is also much in demand as a newspaper and magazine columnist.
Among Mr Miliband’s miscellaneous and unremunerated interests are sponsorship for the 2012 and 2013 South Shields Lectures, which he organises, from Port of Tyne, Nova International, the GMB and Northumbrian Water.
A spokesman for Mr Milband said: “Outside earnings are submitted to the register of members’ interests which is rightly available to the public to view.”
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