Some of the speeches may give rise to questions of potential conflicts of interest. For example, he was paid $250,000 to give a speech in California in May 2024 to an American private equity firm, Clearlake Capital. Two years earlier, in May 2022, Johnson\u2019s government had authorised<\/a> the \u00a32.5bn sale of Chelsea football club to, among others, Clearlake. A source at the company, however, said the two events were entirely unconnected.<\/p>\n Other speeches will raise awkward questions for the prime minister about whether he has been prepared to treat audiences to views or information that a former prime minister would ordinarily be expected to keep confidential in exchange for cash.<\/p>\n Audiences were treated to his views on Barack Obama (\u201cthe most inert, invertebrate president we\u2019ve had for a long, long time\u201d) and Vladimir Putin (\u201clike the fat boy in Dickens, he wants to make your flesh creep\u201d), as well private anecdotes about the late Queen Elizabeth II<\/a>, including a time he said she advised him to talk to birds.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s Sergei Lavrov and Vladimir Putin and Boris Johnson at a Libya summit in Berlin in 2020. Photograph: Reuters<\/p>\n It is perfectly legal for former politicians to make paid speeches. Tony Blair, Theresa May and even Liz Truss have all charged large sums for paid appearances.<\/p>\n But aspects of some of Johnson\u2019s speeches \u2013 and the size of the fees he charged \u2013 will inevitably raise questions about the moral hazard of former prime ministers being allowed to monetise their time in office, and Johnson\u2019s relaxed attitude to rules or conventions.<\/p>\n \u2018Congratulations on your deal\u2019<\/p>\n In his paid appearance before Clearlake, for instance, Johnson explicitly referenced his government\u2019s role in the sale of Chelsea FC to the firm. \u201cI\u2019m proud to have played a small part in selling Chelsea to you,\u201d he said shortly after taking the stage. \u201cCongratulations on your deal, \u00a32.5bn!\u201d<\/p>\n Of Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch forced to sell the club, he joked: \u201cWe did something which we don\u2019t normally do in the UK. We expropriated his assets.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike other recent Conservative former prime ministers who have turned their hand to the speech circuit, Johnson is an effortless performer. The same combination of easy erudition, snappy turns of phrase and relaxed attitude to offhand indiscretions that made him such a successful politician is on full display in the transcripts.<\/p>\n A session for Centerview Partners, a US investment bank, for which he was <\/strong>paid $405,000, was treated to insights into Johnson\u2019s private encounters with the late queen, according to the files. He said she lobbied him during the Brexit negotiations to ensure her stable of horses could be transported to France for breeding operations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very, very important to make sure that her broodmares could get to France and meet their French boyfriends,\u201d he said, to laughter from the room. \u201cThat certainly did come up.\u201d<\/p>\n Boris Johnson and Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace in July 2019. Photograph: Victoria Jones\/PA<\/p>\n He also described his last encounter with the queen two days before she died. \u201cIt was such a completely heartbreaking thing, because I could tell that she was not at all well, and she told me as much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2018Don\u2019t mention the war\u2019<\/p>\n Other disclosures were more eccentric. \u201cYou\u2019re the first audience ever to hear this, Chatham House rules,\u201d he told one audience, referring to the convention that listeners can use information but not reveal its source. He said the queen told him that to stave off bad luck from magpie sightings (a traditional English superstition), \u201cyou\u2019ve got to say \u2018hello, Mr Magpie, it is Wednesday the 9th of November\u2019. And then you\u2019re OK.\u201d<\/p>\n Chart of Boris Johnson earnings from speeches<\/a><\/p>\n But by far the strangest speech was Johnson\u2019s turn as the main act at a 50th birthday party in Albufeira, Portugal, for the vice-president of a German medical data company. The company appears to have no connection to Johnson or the Conservative party, and the compere for the evening\u2019s entertainment explained to the room that the former prime minister had only been hired because the vice-president loved talking about politics.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is only one rule for you,\u201d Johnson\u2019s host said as he welcomed the prime minister to the stage. \u201cSince it\u2019s a German crowd, don\u2019t mention the war.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhich one?\u201d replied Johnson, before launching into tips on later life. \u201cThe reality is that you are no longer in the first flush,\u201d he began. Life might feel like \u201cteetering at the top of a great Alp, a Jungfrau, a Matterhorn\u201d before \u201cthe shades of the afternoon are starting to lengthen\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt won\u2019t be all that long before you will be called upon to make that last great long schuss back to the chalet. The final schuss,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m afraid that last moment can come very suddenly, as they said of a famous skier who died not so long ago. He went downhill fast at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n But for himself, he continued, 50 had been only the beginning. \u201cAfter years of literary mediocrity, I wrote a No 1 bestseller. Since turning 50, I\u2019ve been a foreign secretary, I\u2019ve been prime minister of the United Kingdom.\u201d Other achievements followed: leaving the EU, Europe\u2019s fastest Covid vaccination programme, supporting Ukraine in its fight for freedom and bringing his total number of children to eight.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if I can do it,\u201d he told the German vice-president, \u201cyou can do even more!\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson did not respond directly to questions about his speeches. He emailed a statement to the Guardian, denying his office had misused a subsidy scheme to support an ex-PM\u2019s public duties. The public duty costs allowance (PDCA) should not be used for private or commercial purposes.<\/p>\n \u201cThis story is rubbish. The PDCA has been used entirely in accordance with the rules. The Guardian should change its name to Pravda.\u201d<\/p>\n Quick GuideContact David Pegg about this storyShow If you have something to share about this story, you can contact David using one of the following methods.<\/p>\n Secure Messaging in the Guardian app<\/strong><\/p>\n The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) and go to the menu. Select \u2018Secure Messaging\u2019.<\/p>\n To send a message to David Pegg please choose the \u2018UK Investigations\u2019 team.<\/p>\n Email (not secure)<\/strong><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t need a high level of security or confidentiality you can email david.pegg@theguardian.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n SecureDrop and other secure methods<\/strong><\/p>\n If you can safely use the tor network without being observed or monitored you can send messages and documents to the Guardian via our SecureDrop platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757436851_644_4000.jpg\")
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