BORIS Johnson resigned as UK prime minister over nine months ago - but it hasn’t stopped the Tory MP from making millions on the side.
Since Johnson stepped down from the head of the UK Government on September 5 last year, he has only made 17 contributions to the House of Commons, according to Hansard.
However, he has been much more prolific in keeping his MP Register of Interests up to date, with 69 entries for outside income, gifts and donations flooding in over the same period.
So how much has Boris Johnson made in cash and benefits over the course of nine months?
The National have analysed Johnson’s register to see just how the former PM manages to afford a plush lifestyle, on the measly £86,584 MP salary.
Overall, Johnson has registered over £6.3 million since he left office.
Outside earnings
JOHNSON isn’t just a prolific writer, his status as a former prime minister has given him access to a rate that most, if not all, freelance journalists would be envious of. For three articles for the Wall Street Journal, one on Ukraine, Johnson was paid £2463.66 by Dow Jones, around £821.22 per story.
He was also paid £3000 for one article in The Spectator, published in December this year. But his largest amount of cash came from speaking arrangements after he was given an almost £2.5m advance by the Harry Walker Agency.
While the register notes that there were deductions made from this amount for three speeches in London, UK, Pennsylvania, US and Lagos, Nigeria, he still brought in just short of £2m for speaking engagements alone (£1,998,669.82).
He has undertaken 11 separate speaking engagements since leaving office, including in New York and Washington DC, US, Mumbai, India, and Singapore.
Johnson also made £5206.81 from royalties on books he had already written, and was given a £510,000 advance for an upcoming book by Harper Collins, and a £42,500 advance by Hodder and Stoughton UK.
Donations
JOHNSON has brought in just shy of £1.1m in donations since he left the office of prime minister. The first of £85,320.12 from firm Investors in Private Capital LTD, for the “use of office space and utilities” for a year.
The company lists James Reuben, son of billionaire investor David Reuben, as director. The Tory MP also took a £1m donation from Christopher Harborne for “office costs” at the end of last year. Harborne has been a prolific donor to the Tories and the Brexit Party, before it rebranded as Reform UK, from 2019.
Gifts
IT isn’t just income from writing, speeches and donations that keep Johnson afloat in his luxury lifestyle after leaving Number 10. There were also a whopping 44 separate gifts logged by the former prime minister since September last year, as well as a couple of plush trips abroad.
Johnson’s accommodation since he left Downing Street has been subsidised or gifted to the former PM by Lord Anthony and Lady Carole Bamford. The billionaire couple - Bamford owns construction firm JCB - provided accommodation on eight separate occasions between November 2022 and May 2023, to a value of £34,500.
Lady Carole Bamford additionally gifted Johnson accommodation between September 2022 and May 2023 on a further eight occasions, to a value of £80,000. The register shows that Johnson has accepted accommodation from the Bamfords each month since he left office. Johnson also has three properties he owns on his register of interests.
And, as well as flying across the world for his various speaking arrangements, Johnson was gifted the use of two VIP suites at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, to the tune of thousands of pounds. The suite includes a private lounge, and a menu provided by Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton.
At Heathrow, Johnson used the VIP Windsor Suite on 22 occasions between September 22 2022 and April 20 2023. At £1800 a go, this totals £39,600.
At Gatwick, Johnson used the Sussex Suite on four occasions between October 2022 and March 2022, with the total estimated value at £5808.
“For departures, avoid the main airport terminal crowds and relax in the comfort of a luxury lounge with a drink and enjoy some light refreshments whilst we bring security, customs, immigration and baggage check-in to you,” Gatwick’s website offering the “elite class” service states.
Johnson also accepted a £4000 second-hand limited-edition bike from Nechrirvan Idris Barzani, the President of Kurdistan Regional Government, and £785 worth of flowers and chocolates from Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) foreign minister.
Fancy trips
WHILE Johnson only registered two paid-for trips on his register since leaving office, they totalled a massive £35,644.50. The first, between October 11 and 12 last year, saw Johnson jet off to Montana, US, for a business meeting with billionaire media magnate Rupert Murdoch.
Johnson revealed that Murdoch provided “internal US air travel, accommodation and hospitality for me and two members of staff”.
In January this year, Johnson was gifted a two-day trip to Davos, Switzerland, to join the World Economic Forum. The Victor Pinchuk Foundation, a philanthropic Ukrainian organisation created by its namesake businessman, paid £24,084.66 to send Johnson to the event for two days. The former PM’s register states he was there to “participate in the Davos Ukrainian Breakfast”.
Reaction
An SNP spokesperson said: “The extreme wealth Boris Johnson has managed to acquire since leaving office is an affront to those who suffered most during his time in office.
"Boris Johnson should not be rewarded for his time as prime minister given his government did nothing but entrench poverty and hammer businesses with his bad Brexit, all while he broke the lockdown rules he set.
“Scotland needs a permanent escape from politicians like Boris Johnson.
"Independence will allow us to rid Scotland of Westminster governments for good."
