Former prime ministers in Britain prefer writing memoirs and lucrative jobs

With his resignation announcement last Monday, Keir Starmer became the sixth British Prime Minister to stand up to deliver a farewell speech during the past 10 turbulent years of political life in the United Kingdom, and politicians have engaged in various activities after the end of their term.

UK Prime Ministers typically resign from office and move on to highly lucrative careers in the private sector.

They often join international lecture circuits, write memoirs, hold consulting positions in companies, and engage in philanthropy or academia, while receiving government-funded security and office allowances.

Prime Ministers in the United Kingdom are entitled to public financial support in the form of the Public Duties Allowance, which was established after the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. This allowance allows the former Prime Minister to claim up to £115,000 annually, for life, to cover “necessary office costs arising from their special position in public life.”

While former prime ministers have in the past remained in the House of Commons as ordinary members, modern practice typically requires them to resign their parliamentary seats soon after leaving office or at the next general election.

Many former political leaders are appointed to the House of Lords to continue to contribute to public life, although this practice has become somewhat more politically controversial in recent years.

The conservative politician, Alec Douglas Hume, served as British Prime Minister for 363 days, between 1963 and 1964.

His brief tenure as leader of the United Kingdom was the second shortest of the 20th century.

After assuming the top job, Hume returned to government to serve as Foreign Secretary under Edward Heath from 1970 to 1974.

Likewise, James Callaghan, who served as Prime Minister from 1976 to 1979, remained leader of the Labor Party until 1980, resigning shortly afterwards, and subsequently becoming a life member of the House of Lords, publishing his autobiography Time and Luck in 1987.

Harold Wilson served as British Prime Minister for the Labor Party from 1964 to 1970, and then again from 1974 to 1976, where he won four elections.

After retiring from political life, he also appeared on television.

He became the presenter of a talk show on the BBC, making him the only television program presented by a former British Prime Minister.

In contrast, Winston Churchill, one of the most famous British prime ministers of the 20th century, served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945, and then again from 1951 to 1955.

He remained a member of Parliament for nine years after leaving office, but that was not all he did.

He loved drawing and traveling very much, and in 2014, one of his paintings titled “The Goldfish Pond at Chartwell,” which he painted in 1932, before assuming the highest position in British politics, was sold at auction for approximately 1.8 million pounds sterling.

As for Boris Johnson, he is now a highly sought-after public speaker and international author, writes a regular column for the Daily Mail, serves as a director at the consultancy Better Earth, and is very active on the international lecture circuit, lecturing frequently at American universities on transatlantic politics and world affairs.

Liz Terrace’s activity is not very different from Johnson’s, as she is also an international speaker and political commentator, and she also promotes free market policies at the global level, as she recently spoke at the World Government Summit and published books on economic growth and the political scene.

Terras remains an important figure in conservative think tanks.

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Playhouse and writing room

David Cameron served as British Prime Minister, before Theresa May took office, and resigned after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016, and in April 2017 he announced that he had erected a specially designed hut in his garden, and was planning to write a book about it.

“My kids want to use it as a playhouse, I want to use it as a writing room, and my son wants to use it as a spare bedroom, so there’s a lot of competition,” Cameron said.