After they left office… this is how former prime ministers in Britain make millions

Al-Jazeera Net correspondents

london- Although former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not living his best political days, his financial situation improved dramatically after leaving the prime minister’s office, to the extent that Johnson became one of the richest politicians in Britain in a few months.

And it seems that Johnson was right when he was quoted by the British media complaining about the “minimal” salary he receives as prime minister (168 thousand pounds sterling per year), while he could make millions if he left office, and indeed, Johnson succeeded in accumulating a large fortune without making any efforts. A lot of effort immediately after his resignation as prime minister and also after his resignation from Parliament.

Johnson’s story of reaping a huge fortune after leaving office reflects a phenomenon in the British political arena shared by most of Britain’s prime ministers, who once they leave office, their annual income becomes millions of pounds.

Johnson and the accumulation of wealth

According to the property declaration that Boris Johnson submitted to Parliament last March, his total income within 6 months of leaving the post of prime minister amounted to more than 5 million pounds, in addition to his salary as a parliamentarian, which amounts to 84 thousand pounds a year.

Through this statement, it appears that Johnson was earning 25 thousand pounds per day, during the six months that followed his resignation from office, which made him the highest income among all his colleagues in the British Parliament.

Johnson succeeded in reaping these amounts through 3 basic resources, the first of which is the lectures he delivers, as he obtained an amount of 2.49 million pounds from the American “Harry Walker” agency that specializes in hosting leaders and opinion leaders in the world, and Johnson signed a contract with this agency to deliver Sermons during the current year, noting that he received one million pounds sterling from the same agency in exchange for lectures he gave during the past year.

Johnson also received 200,000 pounds sterling in exchange for giving a lecture for a giant Indian economic group called “Aditya Birla Management”, in addition to obtaining 246 thousand pounds sterling from “Bloomberg Singapore” in exchange for a lecture there.

As for the second source of income for Johnson, it is from signing contracts to write books, and he obtained an initial payment from the “HarperCollins” publishing house, amounting to 510 thousand pounds sterling, in exchange for this house obtaining exclusive rights to publish Johnson’s biography, which he is writing, and it is expected that the contract will reach This book amounted to more than £5 million.

Johnson also got 88 thousand pounds sterling for a book he wrote about William Shakespeare, in addition to obtaining important sums for articles, and Johnson got 3 thousand pounds sterling for an article he says he wrote in less than an hour.

The third source of Johnson’s income is the donations that reached his office, the largest of which was from a famous businessman named Christopher Harborne, who donated one million pounds sterling to Johnson’s office.

Johnson’s income did not stop at this point, as the British newspaper The Guardian revealed that Johnson bought a luxurious house in the suburbs of London for 4 million pounds sterling, in addition to another house worth 3 million pounds sterling in south London.

Rich prime ministers

Former Prime Minister Theresa May is considered one of the richest politicians as well, given her political past, as she was the longest-serving in the Ministry of the Interior in modern British history, prime minister and parliamentarian for more than two decades, all of this made her required by research centers and universities, and Theresa May’s wealth was estimated at about 2 million pounds sterling during her accession to the position of prime minister, and after leaving office in 2019 it increased to 5 million pounds sterling.

May gets large sums of money for her lectures and consulting services, as she got £ 190,000 for giving a lecture in the United States, and £ 160,000 for two lectures for JPMorgan, in addition to more than £ 400,000 for 6 lectures for Cambridge Speakers, in the United States.

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron also earned more than 150,000 pounds per hour per lecture he gave, in addition to the income from his books and his work with international institutions, including Greensill Capital, which gave Cameron a million £ 50 a year for his consulting services, and Cameron’s fortune is estimated at about £ 50 million.

The richest prime minister

The famous British Prime Minister Tony Blair remains the richest former prime minister in Britain, as he succeeded in concluding many contracts with giant institutions, such as the “Zurich” financial institution, the “GB Muga” bank and other global economic and intellectual institutions.

Over these years, Tony Blair has become one of the most expensive speakers in the world, as he gets more than half a million pounds sterling for one lecture, and according to the British newspaper The Sun, Tony Blair’s wealth is currently 100 million pounds sterling, after establishing the Foundation ” Tony Blair Global Changes”, in addition to his investments in the property, which amount to more than 40 million pounds sterling.