Salary of an ex-prime minister of the UK, other amazing benefits

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Interested in British ex-prime minister salary? If yes, keep reading this brief article.

An ex-prime minister salary is eligible for up to £115,000 in benefits per year. The amount money paid to British ex-prime minister is not considered a salary but a stipend under the Public Duty Cost Allowance (PDCA).

The sum was set in 2011 and is fixed until 2023.

According to the government website, the PDCA was established to “assist former Prime Ministers still active in public life” and that “the costs are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office costs and secretarial costs arising from their special position in public life. The allowance is not paid to support private or parliamentary duties.”

An ex-prime minister is paid for life

A former Prime Minister receives the PDCA for the rest of his or her life. In the event of a claimant’s passing, the staff’s salary for the next three months will be paid, as well as any incurred office costs.

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Six Prime Ministers have used the PDCA since it was originally launched in 1991 and was first used by Margaret Thatcher. Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair reportedly claimed more than £1 million from the allowance after leaving office in 2007, according to a 2018 Sunday Times article.

More recently, The Mirror disclosed that Theresa May received £55,381 in 2020-21 while David Cameron received £113,423 that same year.

Former Prime Ministers also may claim a pension allowance to contribute to their staff pension costs, up to a maximum of 10% of the allowance.

Even if they continue to serve in Parliament, all former prime ministers are eligible for the allowance; however, if they accept any official appointments, the amount will be revised. In other words, Theresa May and Boris Johnson, two current MPs who are both former prime ministers, receive the allowance in addition to their £84,144 salaries. The most recent former British prime minister, Liz Truss, who resigned on Thursday October 20 2022, is anticipated to also received these benefits.

Other benefits

Former prime ministers are entitled to an official government vehicle with a chauffeur.

Additionally, former Home Secretary Lord Douglas Hurd told the BBC that former prime ministers continue to get security and that your security “expects to know what you’re going to be doing all the time.”

This right to security is not without debate. A resolution was introduced in 2010 to evaluate the expense of protecting former Prime Ministers, with the notion that “former politicians should pay towards the cost of their own police protection when they receive income from commercial activities when they are accompanied by bodyguards paid for by the UK taxpayer.”

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