Boris Johnson sets up limited company for post-PM work

Boris Johnson has created a new private company to support his job as a former Prime Minister and will have up to £115,000 a year of public funding at his disposal.

The office of Boris Johnson Ltd was incorporated into Companies House on Monday - with the ousted Tory leader listed under his full name of Alexander Boris De Pfeffel Johnson.

The Liability Company limited will not do commercial business and will only operate as a private office to support him as a former prime minister, a source says.

Mr. Johnson was replaced by Liz Truss after stepping down as Tory leader in July, ousted by his own MPs for his handling of a series of scandals including Partygate.

As a former Prime Minister, he is entitled to claim up to £115,000 a year to run his office as part of a scheme to support former No 10 residents who remain active in public life.

Public funding is intended to cover office and secretarial costs arising from their particular circumstances and does not apply to their private or parliamentary functions.

It is not known how much of the 'public service allowance Mr Johnson will claim, with expenses reimbursed on presentation of proof of expenses.

The director of the company is Shelley Williams-Walker, a longtime ally who was at the head of operations at No 10 under Mr Johnson.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: 'Boris' office Johnson Ltd will support Boris Johnson's private office in line with similar structures established by former prime ministers."

It is not yet clear how active Mr Johnson intends to be in the first political line. Allies have suggested he could consider another bid to become prime minister in future, with Ms Truss and the Tory party struggling with dire poll numbers.

The former Tory prime minister Theresa May did. Former Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair is believed to have made the most of a single speech, having received £237,000 for a China engagement in 2007.

Mr. Johnson is still being investigated by MPs on the privileges committee this autumn into whether or not he told the truth about the Partygate rallies in Downing Street. the terms of the commission's inquiry were "unfair" and could be deemed "unlawful" by the courts.

Allies continued to question whether he had "deliberately" misled Parliament during the Partygate saga. But his "intent" is irrelevant to deciding whether he is in contempt, the committee said.

The committee's terms of reference state that the prime minister's "deliberate" inducing the House of Commons in error "may become one of the main issues in the inquiry". But is not necessarily crucial in deciding whether he was in contempt of Parliament.