Liz Truss pulls a fast one on Lettuce! UK PM to get annual allowance of £115,000 for life

Liz Truss, resigning after 45 days in office, has two distinctions. On one hand, her stint at 10 Downing Street is the shortest one in British parliamentary history. On the other hand, by resigning within 45 days, Truss lost out to a very unusual rival -- a lettuce.

As Truss' premiership snowballed from one controversy to the other, the left-leaning publication, The Daily Star, used a ball of lettuce as a caricature to represent how shallow Truss' hold on power was. The tabloid set up a live feed, with the lettuce on one corner and a photograph of Truss on the other, asking the viewers a very simple question: guess which one will last longer.

Be that as it may, with all victory to Herr Lettuce, Truss does have some consolation still. Which our Lettuce does not. As an outgoing PM, she will receive an annual allowance of £115,000 for the rest of her life despite her six week-long stint. Truss is entitled to the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA) given to former Prime Ministers still active in life. She will be able to utilise this allowance for fulfilling public engagements and are a reimbursement of incurred expenses for necessary office and secretarial costs.

The PDCA allowance, which Truss will get, has a limit in accordance with the staffing allowance for MPs’ offices. The current limit has been capped at £115,000 since 2011 and will remain the same in 2022-23.

This, however, is not the only benefit Truss is entitled to as the former Prime Minister of the UK. She can also claim a pension allowance – capped at 10 per cent of the PDCA allowance – for staff pension costs.

The allowances (PDCA and pension) come with a rider as they are not carried over many years and all costs have to be settled in full by the end of quarter 1 of the year succeeding the year in which the allowance was claimed.

The PDCA is paid from the Cabinet Office vote and administered by the Cabinet Office Finance Team. Any former Prime Minister can receive PDCA, according to the UK government website. The allowance to be allotted will be reviewed in relation to remuneration (if any). The PDCA cannot be claimed by any Leader of Opposition.

Ex-Prime Ministers can only be reimbursed for salary or office-related expenses up to the annual limit. For this, they have to submit documents like salary details, receipts/travel cards for the former PM or any of their staff members to either the Cabinet Office Finance or the National Audit Office. The PDCA was first arranged by former Cabinet Secretary Sir Robin Butler after the resignation of Margaret Thatcher in 1990 and was announced by Prime Minister John Major in March 1991.