Liz Truss Will Get a Taxpayer-Funded Allowance of $129K a Year for Life — Some Lawmakers Want to Block It

Liz Truss speaks during the final Tory leadership hustings

Hollie Adams/Bloomberg/getty Liz Truss

British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who announced her resignation just 45 days into her premiership on Thursday, is eligible to receive up to $129,000 USD a year for the rest of her life.

The taxpayer-funded allowance, otherwise known as the Public Duty Costs Allowance, was introduced by the government in 1991 to reimburse staff and salary costs incurred by former prime ministers “arising from their special position in public life.” It comes after they leave office, does not support their private or parliamentary duties, and first took effect after Margaret Thatcher’s resignation, per the BBC.

Former PMs John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May all claimed the allowance, but politicians have urged Truss to be denied the payment, or to turn it down, given her short stay in office. Truss’ resignation this week puts her on track to become the shortest-serving prime minister in the nation’s history.

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Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers her resignation speech at Downing Street on October 20, 2022 in London, England.

Rob Pinney/Getty

“There is no way that she should be permitted to access the same £115,000 a year for life fund as her recent predecessors — all of whom served for well over two years,” said Christine Jardine, the spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office of the Liberal Democrats, per The New York Times.

Jardine added that Truss’ legacy is an “economic disaster,” and that her getting paid would leave “a bitter taste in the mouth of the millions of people struggling with spiraling bills and eye-watering mortgage rate rises thanks to the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement.”

Sir Keir Starmer, who leads the Labour Party, is in agreement that Truss, 47, has “not earned the right” to collect the money despite meeting criteria. “She shouldn’t take that entitlement,” he told BBC. “After 44 days she has not earned the right to that entitlement, she should turn it down.”

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey compared the PDCA to a “full state pension,” and said the sum was “many, many times” what workers would get when they retire, per LBC radio.

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Major and Blair are the only two former PMs who revive the maximum yearly amount, which equates to £115,000, per the Times, while Brown, Cameron and May accepted smaller amounts. Boris Johnson is also eligible for the allowance, but it is unclear if he accepted the payments in July, as the information is not public yet.

With the Public Duty Costs Allowance, Truss could be bringing in an additional $12,900 per year if she chooses to cover the pension costs of her staff, per the Times. As for its fine print, she also cannot claim the allowance “in advance of need,” or draw the money if she serves as the leader of Britain’s main opposition party.

Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss arrives at Buckingham Palace in London, . King Charles III is holding a reception at Buckingham Palace for heads of state and other leaders on Sunday evening ahead of the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday Royals, London, United Kingdom – 18 Sep 2022

Markus Schreiber/AP/Shutterstock Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss arrives at Buckingham Palace reception hosted by King Charles

Truss’ resignation this week came one day after she claimed she was “a fighter and not a quitter.” She was selected to take on the role in September, two months after former Prime Minister Johnson agreed to step down.

While her time in office has been short-lived, she became the third woman to take on the role of PM, behind Margaret Thatcher (1979–1990) and Theresa May (2016–2019), after she won 57% of the votes of Conservative Party members.

Two days after the monarch formally appointed the prime minister to the role at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, Queen Elizabeth II died. Critics argued after funeral processions were in the rearview that Truss wasn’t doing enough to prevent a financial crisis, as during her time in office, the value of the pound plunged while borrowing costs rose in response to tax cuts that would largely favor the wealthy.

RELATED: 45 Days, 2 Monarchs: How Liz Truss’ Stint as Prime Minister Bridged Queen Elizabeth and King Charles

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 06: Queen Elizabeth greets newly elected leader of the Conservative party Liz Truss as she arrives at Balmoral Castle for an audience where she will be invited to become Prime Minister and form a new government on September 6, 2022 in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Queen broke with the tradition of meeting the new prime minister and Buckingham Palace, after needing to remain at Balmoral Castle due to mobility issues. (Photo by Jane Barlow – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Jane Barlow – WPA Pool/Getty Queen Elizabeth and British prime minister, Liz Truss, two days before she died.

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“I came into office at a time of great economic and international instability. Families and businesses were worried about how to pay their bills. Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine threatens the security of our whole continent and our country is being held back for too long by low economic growth,” Truss said in her resignation speech.

“I was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to change this. We delivered on energy bills and on cutting National Insurance. We set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit,” she added. “I recognize that though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

Truss’ successor will be found via a leadership election. Her time in office was timed by British tabloid Daily Star, which put her up against a head of lettuce. The lettuce lasted longer.