Boris Johnson paid more than £32,000 an hour for speech in US
The former prime minister’s register of interests shows he received in excess of £276,000 for a single event, weeks after walking from No 10
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Your support makes all the difference.Boris Johnson was paid more than £276,000 to give a speech in the US a month after leaving Downing Street, records show.
The former prime minister addressed a Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers conference in Colorado Springs in October, giving a 30-minute speech and a 45-minute “fireside chat”.
Reports at the time suggested he got around $150,000 (£126,743), but his official declaration reveals he was paid £276,130.
An update to the MPs’ register of interests, published Thursday, said the money covered eight and a half hours of work, making his fee almost £32,500 an hour.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch also paid Mr Johnson £11,559 to fly to another business meeting in the western US.
The register of interests does not reveal who the former prime minister met with, but Mr Murdoch is reported to have bought a large ranch in Montana in December 2021.
Separate entries show the Australian-born businessman also provided Johnson with “accommodation and hospitality” after his appearance.
Mr Johnson’s speaking fee was considerably higher than that commanded by his predecessor Theresa May, who declared income from two speaking engagements in Thursday’s update.
Mrs May received £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.
According to her register of interests, income from Mrs May’s speaking engagements is used to pay her staff, maintain her “ongoing involvement in public life” and support her charitable work. The former prime minister draws an annual salary from her private office of £85,000.
Former health secretary Matt Hancock declared a payment of £10,000 for appearing at a fintech conference where he discussed how the Government should support cryptocurrencies.