Boris Johnson’s £3.7 million represents 85% of all MPs' outside pay

UK's former leader recorded seven-figure sum in first six weeks of the year — only two others earned more than £100,000

Since leaving office, Boris Johson has been regularly booked to speak at events. Reuters

Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has earned £3.7 million ($4.4 million) this year, making up 85 per cent of all the declared outside income for MPs, data shows.

Since leaving office, Mr Johnson has been a popular, if expensive, draw for speeches and a representative says some of the money are advances on future work.

Mr Johnson resigned after a number of controversies, many of them involving a sense that his government was skirting its own ethics rules, including a spotlight on outside earnings and holding parties inside government buildings during lockdowns.

In the first six weeks of the year, Mr Johnson earned £3.7 million on top of his basic MP salary of £84,144 ($99,899), according to Sky News, which first reported the earnings data.

In total, all MPs, including Mr Johnson earned £4.4 million ($5.2 million) meaning his £3.7 million is about 85 per cent of the total.

Most of his earnings come from speaking engagements and a deal with publisher Harper Collins. One speech in Singapore earned £250,000 ($296,811).

Almost £2.5 million is “an advance for speaking engagements”, according to the MPs’ register of interests.

All of Mr Johnson’s interests are properly registered and declared, a representative said.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock is second with £378,000 ($448,778).

Most of his money — £320,000 ($379,918) — came from his appearance on reality TV show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Fiona Bruce — with £117,000 ($138,000) — is the only other MP to top the £1000,000 ($118,000) figure.

In December, figures showed Mr Johnson had earned more than £1 million ($1.18 million) from speaking engagements since leaving office.

Fees from speaking engagements in the US, India and Portugal during November alone earned Mr Johnson more than £750,000 ($890,000), the MPs’ register of interests showed.

The issue of outside earnings first became an issue during Mr Johnson's premiership after it was revealed Sir Geoffrey Cox was paid about £1 million to work for the British Virgin Islands.

Another ethics row involved former environment secretary Owen Paterson, who resigned after being found guilty of breaching parliamentary rules on lobbying, but only after a government U-turn on its vote to veto his suspension by rewriting the parliamentary rule book.