Boris Johnson’s pay accounts for 85% of all outside earnings declared by MPs so far this year
Boris Johnson earned 85% of all the outside pay generated by MPs this year, Sky News can reveal.
The former prime minister has declared earnings of £4.8m, mostly since stepping down from Downing Street in speeches and book deals, the latest update to the Westminster Accounts by Sky News can reveal.
Some £3.7m of this was earned in just the first six weeks of this year, on top of the basic MP salary of £84,144.
Adding up the outside earnings of every MP in almost two months in 2023 comes to £4.4m, meaning that Mr Johnson received just under 85% of all second job cash. This includes all earnings released up to 20 February.
In January, Sky News launched the Westminster Accounts, a major ongoing investigation into how money works in politics.
Use our interactive tool to see what your MP declares in earnings and donations
We commissioned Tortoise Media to bring together information about MPs’ earnings and donations, as well as money flowing directly to political parties, in one searchable database updated whenever official bodies release more information.
When the project launched, Theresa May was the MP with the highest declared earnings, with Mr Johnson in third place.
Mr Johnson’s extra-parliamentary work in the first two months of this year now pushes him to the top of the league table of outside earnings, with Mrs May moved into second place.
Mrs May’s declared earnings of £2.55m are barely more than half that of Mr Johnson’s.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said all his interests are properly registered and declared.
The bulk of Mr Johnson’s earnings comes from a high end speaking firm, the Harry Walker Agency, followed by a publishing contract with Harper Collins.
Boris Johnson speaks during the Global Soft Power Summit, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre earlier this month
Nearly £2.5m from the speaking agency is “an advance for speaking engagements”, according to the register.
The speech at the International Symposium on Blockchain Advancements in Singapore earned Mr Johnson over a quarter of a million pounds. The highly paid speaking gigs have spanned Singapore, New York, Mumbai and, last week, Westminster.
The second-highest earner in the first two months of this year was the former Tory health secretary Matt Hancock, now an independent MP, earning £378,000.
Most of that has come from ITV for his appearance on I’m A Celebrity which saw him get the nation talking, lose the Conservative Party whip, eat a camel’s private parts and earn £320,000.
Read more:
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His spokesman told Sky News he had donated £10,000 of that to charities – 3% of the total.
Mr Hancock has declared a further £48,000 from the serialisation of his book, which reportedly sold 3,000 copies in its first week.
The book’s ghostwriter Isabel Oakeshott has since forwarded 100,000 of Mr Hancock’s WhatsApp messages, shared with her as part of the book writing process, to a national newspaper.
MPs have declared a total of £22m on top of their annual salaries from outside earnings since the last general election.
Some 17 of the top 20 MPs with the highest declared outside earnings are Conservatives.
The King has met survivors of last month’s Huntingdon train mass stabbing, during a special reception at Buckingham Palace.
He shook hands with train guard Samir Zitouni, who was seriously injured as he stepped in to protect passengers.
More than 10 people were hurt in the stabbing on the 6.25pm LNER service from Doncaster to London King’s Cross on 1 November, which diverted to Huntingdon.
The King greets the train’s driver, Andrew Johnson. Pic: PA
The monarch also met Andrew Johnson, who previously served in the Royal Navy, and was driving the service at the time of the attack.
He was praised by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for his quick thinking when he moved the train on to a slow line.
That decision allowed it to stop at Huntingdon station, leading to a quicker response time by emergency services and potentially saving lives.
Mr Zitouni was credited with saving multiple lives, but was left in a critical condition due to injuries he suffered in the attack.
Stephen Crean, a football fan who had been returning home after watching Nottingham Forest’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United, was also injured while fighting back to protect others during the incident.
Mr Crean said he would need plastic surgery following his injuries.
The monarch greets Stephen Crean and his wife Monludee Crean during the reception. Pic: PA
Amira Ostalski, a student who suddenly found herself in danger, said she ran into the buffet car where she picked up a metal tray to protect herself and her friend.
“I was honestly so petrified. I thought in that moment it was the last time I was ever going to be alive. I thought I was going to die,” she said.
Anthony Williams was charged with 10 counts of attempted murder, one count of actual bodily harm and one count of possession of a bladed article following the train attack.
He remains in custody pending further court hearings scheduled for next year.
A nine-year-old girl found dead in Weston-super-Mare has been named on the day police revealed a teenager had been charged with her murder.
Emergency services were called to Lime Close in the Somerset town at 6.09pm on Monday but Aria Thorpe was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said a 15-year-old boy had been charged with her murder and that a preliminary post-mortem found she died from a single stab wound.
The teenage boy – who can’t be named due to his age – will appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court later today.
A police cordon remains in place as forensics officers continue their work.
Flowers and tributes have been left at the scene. Pic: PA
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Superintendent Jen Appleford, from Avon and Somerset Police, said the community was in shock and Aria’s family were being supported by police.
“It is impossible to adequately describe how traumatic the past 36 hours have been for them and we’d like to reiterate in the strongest possible terms their request for privacy,” she said.
Supt Appleford said police were working with local schools and other agencies to make sure support is available.
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