Boris Johnson will have to take £600k PAY CUT if he becomes next PM
BORIS Johnson is on course for a huge pay CUT if he makes it to No10, The Sun can reveal.
The would-be PM will see his income tumble by 80 per cent in the event he wins the Tory leadership contest.
As Prime Minister, he'd be banned from lucrative gigs writing newspaper columns or delivering corporate speeches.
In the past year Boris has raked in more than £750,000, including his £79,000 MP salary.
The PM earns an annual total of £158,000 - far less than Mr Johnson is currently pulling in.
Long-standing rules state that ministers can't do paid work outside their public service duties.
Since quitting as Foreign Secretary last July, Boris has written a weekly column for the Daily Telegraph on a £275,000 salary.
He also regularly delivers speeches to corporate clients such as banks and law firms, earning him over £400,000 in 11 months.
£80K-AN-HOUR JOB
The most lucrative talk took place at an event in India in April where BoJo was paid £123,000 for three hours' work.
In total Mr Johnson's earnings are on course to fall by £608,000 if he is elected party leader next month.
But he will still be able to receive royalties on his previously published books, which top up his income by thousands more.
Boris far outstrips his leadership rivals in terms of annual earnings.
But some ministers such as Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid are hugely wealthy from their business careers before they entered politics.
Previous Prime Ministers have been able to earn millions after leaving office by cashing in on their experience and connections.
Tony Blair is a multi-millionaire thanks to his work for investment bank JP Morgan, plus advising companies and foreign governments in places like Kazakhstan.
And David Cameron lined up a string of corporate roles, most recently chairing an artificial intelligence firm in the US, as well as writing his forthcoming memoirs.
BoJo's earnings - now and if he becomes PM
NOW
£407,895 - for paid speeches since quitting Cabinet in July 2018
£275,000 - annual salary for Daily Telegraph column
£79,468 - MP's salary
£3,526 - additional payments for newspaper columns
TOTAL £765,889
FUTURE?
£79,468 - MP's salary
£78,223 - top-up salary available to Prime Minister (Theresa May currently claims less)
TOTAL £157,691
Today Boris cemented his position as runaway favourite for No10 as he picked up 114 votes in the first round of the Tory leadership election.
Mr Johnson had more support than the next three candidates - Mr Hunt, Michael Gove and Dominic Raab - put together.
He is now almost certain to make it to the shortlist of two contenders which will go forward to the party membership next week.
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