Although her short six-week tenure as UK prime minister collapsed on Thursday, Liz Truss will still claim the £115,000 annual stipend meant for former prime ministers.
According to the UK government, the Public Service Cost Allowance (PDCA) provides all former prime ministers with an annual allowance to help cover expenses incurred while performing public duties in that position.
To be eligible for the benefit, you only have to be a former prime minister, meaning Truss qualifies despite being the shortest prime minister in the country’s history.
She will receive benefits annually for the rest of her life.
Truss resigned on Thursday after a tumultuous six weeks in office, including an economic crisis fueled by her government’s series of political failures.
Insider previously reported that a number of Conservative MPs publicly called for Truss to step down after calling her administration “unsustainable.”
The benefit has been frozen at £115,000 since 2011 and will remain the same in 2022-23. In addition, Truss is entitled to a pension of up to 10% of the £115,000 allowance.
According to the UK government, Truss is only the sixth prime minister to have received the allowance, which was accepted in 1991 by former prime minister John Major after the resignation of Margaret Thatcher.
Truss, speaking in Downing Street on Thursday, said she was unable to hand over the mandate to which she was elected and will leave the position after her successor is chosen in a party leadership contest. She added that the process will be completed within a week.
