Liz Truss set for £20,000 payout and £115k annual allowance

2022-10-20

Liz Truss set to rake in taxpayers’ cash on departure from No10 – with a £20,000 payout and a £115k annual allowance – following her resignation as PM after just 44 days in office

Liz Truss in line for near-£20,000 payout and annual allowance of up to £115,000
She will make way for new PM following resignation after just 44 days in office
Her departure from No10 will come once a new Tory leader is chosen next week
Lib Dems call for Ms Truss to be blocked from receiving allowance for ex-PMs

Liz Truss is in line for a near-£20,000 payout and an allowance of up to £115,000 a year following her resignation as Prime Minister after just 44 days in office.

The dramatic collapse of her premiership means she set to set to hold the unenviable record as Britain’s shortest-serving PM ever.

Ms Truss will depart Downing Street once a new Tory leader and PM is chosen by next Friday at the latest.

Like all other departing Government ministers, she will be entitled to one-quarter of her annual salary in severance pay.

Ms Truss earned a total salary of £164,080: £84,144 for being an MP, plus a further £75,440 for being PM.

It means she is in line for a £18,860 pay-out due to her resignation as PM.

She will continue to receive her £84,144 salary for being MP for South West Norfolk.

Meanwhile, on top of the £18,860 pay-out, Ms Truss will also be entitled to claim up to £115,000 a year in an allowance for former prime ministers.

Payments are made to help ex-premiers continue to fulfil their public duties through the running of an office.

They are entitled to the money for the rest of their lives, unless they take up another public appointment.

Liz Truss, who announced her resignation as PM after just 44 days in office, will depart Downing Street once a new Tory leader and PM is chosen by next Friday at the latest

Earlier this month, following his own departure from No10, Boris Johnson incorporated ‘The Office of Boris Johnson Limited’ with Companies House

Former PMs have to supply supporting documents – such as salary details for staff, or travel receipts – in order to recieve the cash.

The allowance is administered by the Cabinet Office.

On top of the £115,000 entitlement, ex-PMs can claim a pension allowance to contribute towards their staff pension costs.

This is limited to a maximum of 10% of the allowance.

Earlier this month, following his own departure from No10 six-and-a-half weeks ago, Boris Johnson incorporated ‘The Office of Boris Johnson Limited’ with Companies House.

It named his former Downing Street aide Shelley Williams-Walker as a director.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: ‘The Office of Boris Johnson Ltd will support Boris Johnson’s private office in line with similar structures established by former prime ministers.’

The Liberal Democrats called for Ms Truss to not be permitted the £115,000 a year allowance following her historically short spell as PM.

They claimed the departing premier’s entitlement of up to £1.15million of taxpayers’ cash over the next decade could instead fund almost 4,000 ambulance trips or nearly 30,000 GP appointments.

The party’s Cabinet Office spokesperson Christine Jardine said: ‘Liz Truss will forever be known as the 50-day Prime Minister.

‘There is no way that she should be permitted to access the same £115,000 a year for life fund as her recent predecessors – all of whom served for well over two years.

‘To make matters worse, Truss’s legacy is an economic disaster – for which the Conservatives are making taxpayers foot the bill.

‘For Truss to walk off into the sunset with a potential six-figure dividend, while leaving the British public to suffer, would be unconscionable.

‘This huge potential payout will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of the millions of people struggling with spiralling bills and eye-watering mortgage rate rises thanks to the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement.’

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