Give of the gab still pays off for Boris Johnson

Leaving 10 Downing St was a political hammer blow for the former British prime minister but it is doing no harm to his depleted bank balance.

The former journalist was forced to give up a lucrative round of newspaper articles and after-dinner speeches when he became prime minister. Picture: AFP

Leaving 10 Downing St was a political hammer blow for Boris Johnson but is doing no harm to his depleted bank balance.

The former British prime minister was paid more than $US325,000 ($485,000) for just one speech at a US insurance ­industry event, according to a list of MPs’ register of interests.

When he became Britain’s leader in 2019, the former journalist was forced to give up a lucrative round of newspaper articles and after-dinner speeches, and got into more than one financial scrape as prime minister.

Forced out in September, Mr Johnson used his new-found freedom to address the Council of ­Insurance Agents and Brokers in Colorado Springs on October 14.  The speaking fee came to $US325,150, while Mr Johnson and two staff also received transport and accommodation expenses.

Only three days before Colorado, Mr Johnson was paid $US13,740 by Rupert Murdoch to fly to a “business meeting” in Montana, where the media mogul owns a cattle farm.

The US trip interrupted a post-premiership Caribbean holiday for Mr Johnson. The register showed that on the way out, he, his wife Carrie and their two small children were given luxury lounge space as guests of Gatwick Airport on October 7.

The London airport did the same for them on their return on October 22, when Mr Johnson rushed back from the Dominican Republic for an unexpected new race for the Conservative Party leadership after the implosion of Liz Truss’s premiership.

He gave up the bid the next day, and accepted family accommodation until November 11 from Lord Anthony Bamford, a pro-Brexit businessman who also bankrolled the Johnsons’ wedding reception at his country manor house in July.

There was nothing listed on the new register for Rishi Sunak, who succeeded Ms Truss last month. She declared a donation of £33,265.48 “to cover winding up costs for my leadership campaign”.

AFP