Nearly £10 million in public funds has been spent over the past three decades to cover the public activities of former prime ministers, according to The Guardian.
All ex-leaders are entitled to receive up to £115,000 annually—for life—as a subsidy enabling them to engage in public life after leaving Downing Street.
Total spending under this scheme has more than doubled in recent years, as the number of former prime ministers has grown compared with past decades. Over the last ten years alone, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and John Major each received more than £1 million through this allowance.
The scheme, intended to finance the private offices of former leaders, has come under scrutiny following a data leak from Boris Johnson’s office.
Cabinet Office rules stipulate that former prime ministers cannot use public subsidies for private or commercial activities. These payments are meant solely to support their engagement in public life.
However, The Guardian published a series of reports based on leaked files obtained by the U.S. nonprofit group Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoS). The documents suggest that Boris Johnson’s office was heavily involved in commercial projects.
His staff helped prepare and organize more than 34 speaking engagements that generated over £5 million, secured lucrative media contracts, and worked on business ventures in Venezuela, Abu Dhabi, and Saudi Arabia. Since leaving government, Johnson has received £182,000 in subsidies to cover the salaries of his private office staff.
Confronted with numerous questions about his business activities, the former prime minister did not respond directly but rejected accusations of abusing the subsidy scheme. "This story is nonsense," he said. "The subsidy was used strictly in accordance with the rules. It’s time for The Guardian to rename itself 'Pravda.'"
Following the publications, several influential politicians from different parties called for an investigation into the legality of Johnson’s public funding. At the same time, five other former prime ministers—Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Theresa May, and Liz Truss—issued statements confirming that they strictly follow the rules prohibiting the use of public funds for private business.
The revelations have once again drawn attention to the little-known scheme known as the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), created in 1991. According to the Cabinet Office, it was introduced to "assist former prime ministers who remain active in public life."
Payments under this scheme are said to be intended solely to cover the actual costs of carrying out public duties—reimbursing administrative expenses that arise from the special status of former prime ministers. The funds are typically used to maintain private office staff who handle correspondence, interview requests, and the organization of official visits.
The scheme was introduced in 1991 by John Major. At the time, it was reported that his predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, was struggling as an ordinary MP without secretaries and aides after being forced from Downing Street the previous year.
By cross-referencing annual Cabinet Office reports with parliamentary answers, The Guardian calculated that total spending on the PDCA has cost taxpayers at least £9.9 million. Adjusted for inflation, that amounts to more than £14 million today. The true figure is higher, as the government failed to publish any spending data for a ten-year period.
The maximum allowance for former prime ministers is £115,000 a year. The cap has been frozen since 2011, but overall spending has risen as the number of claimants has grown amid the rapid turnover of Conservative leaders. Among them is Liz Truss, who served just 49 days as prime minister but, at 50 years old, already qualifies for lifetime payments that will likely total millions. To date, she has claimed £125,000 in reimbursements.
Currently, seven former prime ministers receive subsidies under the scheme, compared with five in the early 1990s when the program was first introduced.
Adjusted for inflation, former prime ministers received £858,000 under the PDCA in the 2023–24 fiscal year—up from £464,000 a decade earlier and £337,000 in 1997–98. Since 2006, the largest sums have gone to Tony Blair and John Major—£1.9 million and £2 million respectively—as they almost always claimed the maximum allowable subsidy. Gordon Brown ranks lower, as his claims typically fell short of the cap and he left Downing Street later.
Following The Guardian publications, Gordon Brown called for stricter rules, urging that former prime ministers be required to disclose their commercial interests publicly. His spokesperson noted: "Mr. Brown believes that former prime ministers should make public declarations of their business interests and supports tightening the code on appointments to corporate positions."
David Cameron has received £780,000 since leaving office in 2016. When he returned to government as foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet, the rules barred him from making further claims.
Theresa May has claimed nearly £400,000. John Major and Prime Minister Sunak himself—who is believed not to use the program at all—left journalists’ inquiries unanswered.
A curious detail: Nick Clegg, who served as deputy prime minister from 2010 to 2015, qualified for the PDCA despite never leading a government. He received £445,000 over four years. In 2018, his final year in the scheme, Clegg became president of global affairs and communications at Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, where his compensation ran into the millions.