A turbulent year in government has made 71 ministers and whips eligible for the award, with Boris Johnson and Liz Truss expected to receive the largest individual amounts.
Severance payments to former ministers and whips might cost the British taxpayer up to £709,000 in the past year.
79 cabinet ministers and whips have been dismissed or resigned since the beginning of the year.
And 71 of them are likely to be eligible for payouts averaging over £10,000, regardless of the length of their employment. Two are said to be returning all or a portion of the money.
To qualify for the lump sum, outgoing front-bench legislators cannot return to government service within three weeks of leaving their position.
This means that everyone dismissed on Tuesday by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be eligible for a reward if they do not return to a paid government position before November 15.
Our estimations are based on what they will be eligible to receive if they continue to sit on the bench for the duration in question.
Mr. Lewis, who most recently served as secretary of justice under Liz Truss, is entitled to the greatest sum, with two payouts totaling nearly £34,000 – more than the average annual salary of £31,676 for nurses.
He is eligible for one payment due to his departure as Northern Ireland secretary in July, in protest of Boris Johnson’s reluctance to resign, and a second payment due to his loss of position as justice minister after Mr. Sunak’s reshuffle.
In a year of political anarchy in 2022, three prime ministers and multiple cabinet reshuffles occurred. As a result, there has been a record degree of turnover on the government benches, resulting in a significant number of individuals eligible for severance pay.
According to the Institute of Government, the number of cabinet appointments this year is already more than twice as high as any year since 1979.
Boris Johnson announced his resignation as prime minister in July, following the resignation of hundreds of members of parliament in protest of his treatment of sexual assault claims against former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher.
Liz Truss: £385 per day
In her first three days as prime minister, Ms. Truss relegated an additional thirty ministers and whips to the opposition benches.
Mr. Johnson and Ms. Truss qualify for the most generous individual payouts, amounting to £18,860 apiece.
This equates to £385 a day in the office for Ms. Truss, who only held the position for seven weeks. Her total potential earnings are greater than the pro-rata £10,120 she would have earned in the position from her wage.
Kwasi Kwarteng: £444 per day
Mr. Kwarteng, who was forced to leave his position as chancellor due to the mini-budget, is eligible for roughly £17,000.
This is comparable to £444 per day, which is more than double the £7,022 he would have earned from his official income as chancellor if paid proportionally.
Suella Braverman, who resigned as home secretary on 19 October, is ineligible for a reward because she returned to the frontbench within the three-week cutoff period just six days later.
32 members of parliament could receive more severance pay than they earned on the job.
Conor Burns is worth £7,290
Former trade minister Conor Burns will receive a £7,290 severance package, which is three times his pro-rata salary of £2,602.
After losing the whip for “severe misconduct” at the Conservative Party convention, he was ousted in October after only one month in the position.
Anyone quitting paid government employment may file a claim, regardless of whether they resigned voluntarily, were fired, or quit in disgrace.
The only requirements are that they do not return to work within three weeks, they are under 65 years old, and they did not die in office.
Chris Pincher: £8,000
Mr. Pincher, who resigned as government whip in July due to sexual assault charges, was eligible for a settlement of roughly £8,000.
Some rejected separation cash or gave it to charity.
After serving as education secretary for less than 36 hours under Boris Johnson, Michelle Donelan was eligible for a payment of over £17,000, but she turned it down.
In July, she told, “I said that if I couldn’t refuse the money, I would donate it to charity, but I did reject it.”
“It was taxpayers’ money, therefore I believe it would be unethical for me to take taxpayers’ money and then choose which charity I wanted to give it to,” she said. “I was very clear that if I could refuse it, I would, so I did.”
Dominic Raab, who was reappointed as justice minister on Tuesday, plans to refund a portion of his £16,876 compensation.
Grant Shapps was only out of office for 43 days after leaving as transport secretary under Mr. Johnson, but he was eligible for nearly £17,000 in severance pay. According to his office, he will donate around half of his salary to an HMRC-approved charitable account.
2010 severance pay for Labour: £1 million
In July, in response to an Urgent Question regarding severance pay, Cabinet Office minister Harriet Wheeler stated: “The severance pay for ministers is governed by legislation that was passed by the legislature in 1991 and has been utilized by successive administrations for decades.
Ms. Wheeler continued, “Reshuffles are vital to the operation of the government and, by their very nature, routinely remove ministers from office; in contrast to other employment contexts, there are no notice periods, consultations, or redundancy provisions.”
She noted that severance payments were made and accepted throughout the administrations of Blair and Brown, adding: “To maintain transparency, government agencies publish severance payments in their annual reports and financial statements.
“As an example of the prior application of this provision, published statistics from 2010 revealed that severance payments to Labour ministers in that year totaled £1 million.”
