Disgraced ex-PM Boris Johnson has landed a new job as a columnist for the Daily Mail - just days after quitting as an MP over a damning Partygate report.
On Friday the newspaper teased an "erudite new columnist who'll be required reading in Westminster and across the world" alongside a blacked out silhouette figure.
Before becoming PM in 2019 Mr Johnson was paid over £250,000 per year for penning columns for The Daily Telegraph - a position he had to forfeit once entering No10.
Due to the former Tory leader no longer being an MP his earnings at his new Daily Mail gig may remain secret as he is no longer required to make them public.
The columns may cause a headache for PM Rishi Sunak after the pair engaged in a bitter public row this week over the award of Mr Johnson's gongs and peerages to allies.
The Daily Mail later confirmed Mr Johnson will be its new columnist in a tweet on its Mail Online account: “We are delighted to announce Boris Johnson as our new columnist.
“Famed as one of the wittiest and most original writers in the business, Boris’s column will appear in the Daily Mail every Saturday and you’ll be able to get a preview on MailOnline and The Mail+ on Fridays.”
In a video shared by the Daily Mail, the ex-PM said: “I am thrilled to have been asked to contribute a column to the Daily Mail.
“It is going to be completely unexpurgated stuff.
“I may even have to cover politics, but I’ll obviously try to do that as little as possible unless I absolutely have to.
“I’m much looking forward to making my first contribution to those illustrious pages on Saturday.”
The clip also features a compilation of shots of Mr Johnson in Downing Street, the House of Commons and out jogging.
Downing Street declined to comment on speculation that Boris Johnson is taking a job as a Daily Mail columnist.
Asked whether Rishi Sunak is looking forward to reading his predecessor’s column, a No 10 spokesman said: “That’s not a matter for Government and it’s not a question I’ve asked him specifically.”
It comes after MPs on the Privileges Committee recommended the ex-PM face an unprecedented 90-day suspension had he not already resigned in advance of its judgement.
The 106-page report detailed a shameful litany of lies which MPs said he had continued even as gave evidence to them during a grilling earlier this year.
It also recommended Mr Johnson be stripped of his right to hold a parliamentary pass - a privilege usually given to ex-PMs.
It exposed as hollow his claims that “all guidance was followed in No10” during 2020’s illegal lockdown parties, first revealed by the Mirror in December 2021.
Mr Johnson, who was given advance sight of the report last week, was also accused of being "complicit" in a campaign to intimidate the Committee's members.
MPs now face a showdown vote on Monday over whether to endorse the Committee's findings.
MPs will be given a free vote, but allies of Mr Johnson warned Tories they could face battles with their local parties to remain as candidates at the next election if they back the motion.
Labour ’s Thangam Debbonaire said yesterday: “The evidence in this report is damning and the conclusions the committee came to are clear. Boris Johnson is a law-breaker and a liar.”
Mr Johnson himself branded the reports findings "tripe" and "deranged" in a lengthy rant.
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