When Boris Johnson became Prime Minister he took a £670,000 pay cut. For the man who allegedly once asked his reported ex-lover Jennifer Acuri to borrow £3.10 to pay for a drink on a date, it appears it has been hard to adjust.
In the 12 months before Boris took the top job in July 2019, he earned £829,255 according to investment house AJ Bell.
His huge pre-Prime Ministerial earnings were made up by well-paid speaking engagements – Mr Johnson once pocketed £122,899 for a speech at publishing company India Today in New Delhi – and his £275,000 a year for writing columns in The Telegraph.
Currently he earns £157,372 a year, which is made up of his Prime Minister’s salary of £75,440 and MP’s salary of £81,932, although around £60,000 of that is tax.
Mr Johnson also receives somewhere between £10,000 to £20,000 from book royalties.
After apparently realising the challenges of funding his lifestyle with a substantially lower bank balance, Mr Johnson sold his £3.7m Islington townhouse three months after becoming PM. However, he and fiancée Carrie Symonds also bought a £1.3m Camberwell townhouse together in 2019.
Last month, he also began renting out his £1.2m four-bedroom home in Oxfordshire for £4,250 a month.
A 20 per cent stake in a property in Somerset, close to the Johnson family estate, is another source of income.
The PM may find himself cash poor with most of his money tied up in property and investments, various family commitments and at times, a taste for luxury.
He holidayed in Mustique over the Christmas break in 2019. The parliamentary standards watchdog is still looking into who paid for the £15,000 trip. A teepee camping trip to Scotland with Ms Symonds last August was less pricey.
Before becoming Foreign Secretary, Mr Johnson would save money using his bike to “cycle everywhere” in London, as he once put it. Since holding high office he has had to cut down but he does get a limousine and police bodyguard as part of the job.
One of the PM’s biggest spends during his lifetime has been on his six children – the ones he has publicly acknowledged – by three women. Add to that two divorces and a third wedding on the horizon and it is not hard to imagine why five years ago he reportedly told a political friend he needed “a million quid a year to get by”.
Mr Johnson’s four children with second wife barrister Marina Wheeler, who all went to private schools, are now in their 20s and graduated from university. It is not known if and to what extend he still provides financially for any of them.
Human rights lawyer Ms Wheeler settled her divorce with the PM in February 2020 after they split in 2018. The financial settlement is not known but The Times reported she was given a considerable percentage of Mr Johnson’s future earnings after he leaves office.
It is not known how much he spends on his fifth child Stephanie, 11, from his affair with art consultant Helen Macintyre.
Baby Wilfred, who turns one on Thursday, lives at the Downing Street flat with him and Ms Symonds. Last year, they were reportedly worried about how much the cost of a nanny would set them back.
The couple pay no rent on the flat, although have to pay around £7,000 on running costs. They foot the bill for a cleaner and must pay for any food they order up from Downing Street’s kitchen. The pair must also pay for entertaining family or friends at Chequers. Before meals at the Buckinghamshire retreat, the PM allegedly tells guests to “eat every scrap. I have to pay for this.”
The PM receives an annual public grant of £30,000 to carry out renovations to the Downing Street residence each year. Refurbishment of the four-bedroom flat has been speculated to have cost around £88,000.
Previous PMs have had the same budget. Theresa May spent just £25,534 over her three years in power between 2016-19. Her highest yearly spend was £19,400 in 2016-17.
It is not known exactly what she and husband Philip May spent the money on, but an article in Tatler magazine claims Ms Symonds believed the home she and Johnson inherited was a “John Lewis furniture nightmare”.
In 2011, former prime minister David Cameron and wife Samantha spent the full amount on electrical works, plumbing, structural alterations and painting and decorating, footing extra bills with their own money.
Mr Cameron spent a total of £92,931 on works in his six years in office between 2010-2016, completely redecorating it, redoing the kitchen and even ripping out a mirrored exercise room installed by the Blairs.
Gordon Brown spent £84,622 in his three years in the job between 2007-2010, with his highest spend coming in at £29,379 in 2009-10.
Tony Blair was the first PM to decide to live in the flat at number 11 due to its larger size, before that it had been left almost untouched by several chancellors who used it as their residence.
In his 10 years in office, Mr Blair spent a total of £285,380 completely redecorating, with new artwork, custom bookcases, new carpets, kitchen, bed and exercise room.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2S2qANA
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