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Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss is due to receive a payout of £19,000 (S$30,400) and access to a yearly £115,000 (S$184,000) allowance for her time as prime minister.

This is despite her being the shortest-serving prime minister in post-war history, and by some reckonings: ever.

Spoiling the markets

Truss's government imploded in spectacular fashion as she and her Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng released an uncosted "mini-budget" that aggressively cut the UK's revenues.

This caused the UK's pound sterling to crash, so while her payout will be roughly S$30,400, it would have been S$29,250 right after her mini-budget.  That recovery only came about because the Bank of England set aside £65 billion (S$104 billion) to rescue the situation, according to The Guardian.

It would have been worth nearly S$38,750 when Truss first became a minister in 2014.

According to The New York Times, the mini-budget also caused UK mortgage rates to spike by increasing the cost of borrowing, meaning some families saw their mortgage rates nearly double, putting their homes at risk, or in some cases, destroying their hopes of owning a home for the foreseeable future.

Throughout the turmoil, she was unable to get her government to issue a coherent message, eventually leading to her Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigning, while issuing a stinging invective against Truss's government.

Her prospects for survival were so poor that a local newspaper ran a contest between her and a fresh lettuce to determine who or which would wilt first.

The lettuce won

After 45 days, Truss's position was so untenable that she announced she would resign, and that a competition to replace her was fast tracked.

While the contest that she won after her predecessor Boris Johnson resigned lasted several months, the contest to replace her will take place in under a week, with the final candidates for that contest to be made clear on Monday.

Despite her short reign, she will be eligible for a severance payment that is a quarter of her PM salary. According to the BBC, a PM is paid £79,000 (S$126,300) a year in addition to their MP salary, Truss will be eligible for £19,000 (S$30,400). As she is not resigning from her seat and will remain in parliament, she will not be receiving a payout for that role.

But more interesting is the £115,000 Public Duty Costs Allowance that Truss is able to access. It is not a pension, or a yearly payout. Instead, it is an allowance that former PMs may claim against, for cost incurred while serving in the role as former PM, such as secretarial, office, or transport costs.

All former PMs except Boris Johnson have claimed from the allowance in the last reported year of 2020 to 2021, with John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and David Cameron claiming at or close to the maximum amount, according to The Guardian. Theresa May claimed less than half that amount, and Boris Johnson's claims have yet to be revealed.

The Guardian also reports that numerous opposition figures, including the leader of opposition Keir Starmer, have said that she should reject the allowance, due to her short time in office. They say that this is especially the case considering that Truss advocated for the cutting of public spending, especially in the face of the highest inflation in 40 years.

This payout is just one of a vast series of payouts that the UK Treasury will have to endure due to a year of turbulence. Due to the fiasco that was Boris Johnson's final weeks in office alone, when over 30 ministers resigned, the government is due to handover over £245,000 (S$392,000), according to The Big Issue, a British social issues magazine.

One minister, Michelle Donelan, who was in her role for less than 36 hours, was entitled to a £16,900 (S$27,000) payout. However, when informed of this, Donelan said she would donate the money to a local charity.

If this is the case I shall be donating it in full to a local charity.

— Michelle Donelan MP (@michelledonelan) July 7, 2022

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Top image via Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images