Boris Johnson has raked in more than 1 million pounds (1.16 million euros) in paid speeches since resigning a few months ago, according to a document published on Wednesday.
The former UK prime minister, who was forced to quit in September amid a string of scandals related to sexual misconduct in his party and drunken lockdown parties, posted the figure on an official register listing the financial interests of parliamentarians
Still a member of the House of Commons, Johnson has delivered speeches in recent months to bankers in New York, insurers in the United States, at a summit organized by CNN in Portugal and another in India.
For each speech, the ex-PM was paid between 215,000 and 277,000 pounds, according to the document published on Parliament’s website.
In 2021, the former leader of the Conservative Party was criticised by senior business leaders and fellow Tory MPs for an “embarrassing” speech in which praised the cartoon character Peppa Pig, likened himself to Moses and made the noise of a car.
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson lost his place during the speech and spent 20 seconds repeating “forgive me” as he shuffled the printed pages on the podium.
He left Downing Street in September after being pressured into resigning in the summer, amid several scandals within his government.
The 58-year-old tried to return to power after the departure of his successor Liz Truss, who lasted little over a month as the UK leader.
However, in the middle of an economic crisis in the UK, his Conservative colleagues preferred Johnson’s former finance minister Rishi Sunak.
Johnson has not fully closed the door on leading his country once again, eyeing up a possible comeback in two years’ time.
He considers himself “well placed to ensure a conservative victory in 2024” in the legislative elections, claiming he remains popular with the base of the party.
Leave a Reply