Prime Minister Boris Johnson received a large fee for the speaking engagement
(Picture: PA Wire)Boris Johnson was paid £276,000 for a speech given to American insurers last month, it has emerged.
The former Prime Minister received £276,130 from the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) for the “speaking engagement” on October 14 in Colorado Springs, according to an update to the MPs’ register of interests.
He delivered a 30-minute speech and a 45-minute “fireside chat” at the event which took place barely a month after he left Downing Street, according to The Guardian.
Mr Johnson, who resigned as PM in July following a series of scandals, is also set to deliver a speech at a Blockchain conference in Singapore next month.
The entry in Mr Johnson’s register also said that he had received accommodation and transport from the CIAB for himself and two staff members. The money was exchanged in return for 8 hours and 30 minutes of work, meaning that the former PM earned roughly £32,500 per hour.
Another entry in Mr Johnson’s register of interests showed media mogul Rupert Murdoch paid £11,559 to fly Mr Johnson to a business meeting in Montana and provide him with “accommodation and hospitality” after his appearance in Colorado. The entry did not specify who Mr Johnson met with.
It comes just weeks after Mr Johnson, MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, came close to a sensational return to No10 following the resignation of Liz Truss.
Though he did not formally run to become Tory leader, allies of Mr Johnson briefed that he had the support of the 100 MPs required to progress to the second round of the contest.
But Mr Johnson pulled out at the last minute, saying that while he was “well placed” to deliver a General Election victory in 2024 he had decided it would “not be the right thing to do” as his return would leave the party too divided.
“You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament,” he said.
“Events lately have been stranger than fiction,” Ms Dorries told the Standard. “And I will be drawing on that rich source material. It’s a political whodunnit.”
The update to the MPs’ register of interests also showed that Mr Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May earned £8,000 from World 50, a “private community for senior-most executives” based in the US, for an appearance at a virtual speaking event that took her one hour.
She also received £97,000 for speaking at an event hosted by private equity firm Apax Partners.
