Liz Truss is now eligible to receive 115,000 GBP or $129,000 each year for the rest of her life despite resigning as prime minister for just 44 days, a report by The New York Times found Friday.
The U.K.’s Conservative Party has seen a rocky year with the ousting of former prime minister Boris Johnson and a tumultuous stint under Truss’ brief leadership.
But Truss, who resigned Thursday, could still see an annual stipend called the Public Duty Costs Allowance.
Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss addresses the media in Downing Street in London, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022.
(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
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The allowance, which was started following Margret Thatcher’s resignation in 1991, is a way for former prime ministers to pay for their continued public events and is not intended for private or parliamentary duties, according to the British government.
But Truss’ short tenure as prime minister has prompted some to argue that she should not be granted the stipend that is paid for by taxpayer funds.
“There is no way that she should be permitted to access the same £115,000 a year for life fund as her recent predecessors – all of whom served for well over two years,” Christine Jardine, spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office of the Liberal Democrats, said in a statement first reported by the Times. “Truss’s legacy is an economic disaster — for which the Conservatives are making taxpayers foot the bill.”
A selection of the front pages of British national newspapers showing the reaction the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss in London, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.
(AP Photo/David Cliff)
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Jardine said that granting the allowance would put “a bitter taste in the mouth of the millions of people struggling with spiraling bills and eye-watering mortgage rate rises thanks to the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement.”
Fox News could not immediately reach Downing Street for comment.
It is unclear whether Truss will accept the funds granted to the previous six prime ministers, though currently just John Major and Tony Blair receive the allowance, according to the Times.
Two policemen stand guard near the front door to 10 Downing Street the official home of the British Prime Minister in London, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.
(AP Photo/David Cliff)
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The $129,000 allowance has not increased since 2011, though Truss would also be permitted to claim up to a 10 percent pension allowance as well for staffing pension costs. That would grant Truss another $12,900 annually.
