Already? George Osborne has been paid £100,000 for three speeches in the US
Former chancellor George Osborne has wasted no time in making the most of his experience after he stepped down: new figures have shown he has been paid almost £100,000 for three speeches in the US.
The Parliamentary register of members' financial interests showed Osborne made £69,992 for an hour and a half of speeches to The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association on 27 September and 18 October.
On 17 October, he gave a speech to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, for which he was paid £28,454.40.
To be fair, Osborne has had something of a pay cut since he stepped down as chancellor – as MP for Tatton he is currently paid £74,962 a year, down from the £135,527 a year he was earning when he was residing in Number 11.
Back in August he was given permission to sign up to the Washington Speakers Bureau, which also has Tony Blair, ex-French President Nicholas Sarkozy and former Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke on its books.
Listen to the former chancellor's speech at this week's Spectator Parliamentary Awards:
Osborne had to wait three months from the date he left ministerial office before he could start making money from speeches – although he must comply with certain rules, including avoiding drawing on privileged information from his time as minister, as well as a two-year moratorium on lobbying the UK government on behalf of the Washington Speakers Bureau and its clients.
After Nick Clegg was ousted as deputy Prime Minister in 2015, it was estimated he could charge £35,250 per speech on the after dinner circuit.
Meanwhile, Tony Blair makes as much as £400,000 per speech – while Gordon Brown makes just £75,000, half his Prime Ministerial salary of £150,000.
Here's how much other politicians make on the after-dinner circuit
