Boris Johnson to receive £18k golden goodbye and an annual £115k allowance

The former prime minister will also benefit from a taxpayer-funded pension.
Lola Christina Alao8 September 2022
WEST END FINAL

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Boris Johnson’s time in office has come to an end, with Liz Truss taking on the top job after winning the race against Rishi Sunak to lead the Conservative party.

But Mr Johsnon will be granted one last reward, in the form of an £18,860 severance pay, otherwise known as a golden goodbye, or golden handshake.

That means he’ll receive a quarter of his prime ministerial salary of £75,440 simply for stepping down.

This figure is as well as an annual public duty costs allowance, which allows ex-PMs to claim staff, office, and other expenses of up to £115,000 a year.

So, what’s the catch? This money is not given as cash up front, and can only be used to fund “necessary office and secretarial costs arising from fulfilling public duties”.

His predecessors Sir John Major, Sir Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, and Theresa May have all also claimed the allowance since departing from Downing Street.

Under this scheme, Mr Johnson can also claim up to 10 per cent of the cost of this allowance to fund the pensions of staff who work in their post-prime ministerial offices.

He will also benefit from a taxpayer-funded pension as a former minister and prime minister – in addition to any private pensions he has from his time as a journalist and as Mayor of London.

Mr Johnson’s pension pot will be based on the size of his contributions in the two years he served as foreign secretary and the three years he was prime minister.

Ministerial and PM pensions are based on 1/40th or 1/50th of an individual’s final salary in the role, so the maximum Mr Johnson would have contributed personally from his five years in government would be around £9,000.

He is also expected to make millions from his future memoirs, work in journalism, and public speaking gigs.

When did Boris Johnson officially leave the role of prime minister?

Mr Johnson met with the Queen at Balmoral to formally offer his resignation, on Tuesday, September 6.

They met in the drawing room of the private royal residence and spent almost 40 minutes together.

According to a statement from Buckingham Palace, Mr Johnson “tendered his resignation as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, which Her Majesty was graciously pleased to accept”.

Following convention, Mr Johnson then left the royal estate via a private route a few minutes before midday.

Shortly afterwards, his Twitter profile was updated to reflect his new status, describing him as the “former prime minister of the United Kingdom”.

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