Liz Truss entitled to $129,000 allowance per year as ex-PM

Liz Truss
(Image credit: Rob Pinney/Getty Images)

The U.K.'s Liz Truss is eligible for a lifetime taxpayer-funded allowance of 115,000 pounds or $129,000 a year as ex-Prime Minister, despite only serving for 44 days. She resigned as Britain's prime minister on Thursday after failed fiscal plans put Britain's economy in turmoil.

With her resignation, Truss became eligible for the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA), which is a reimbursement plan for costs incurred by former prime ministers for their "special position in public life," The New York Times reports. It was created in 1990 to "assist former Prime Ministers still active in public life."

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Even so, it has brought scorn from some who believe her allowance should be refused due to the economic turmoil she caused while in office, the Times continues. Christine Jardine, spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office of the Liberal Democrats said in a statement, "Truss's legacy is an economic disaster — for which the Conservatives are making taxpayers foot the bill."

Truss also became the shortest-serving prime minister in Britain's history, also raising questions as to whether she should be eligible for PDCA at all, CNN reports. Some of the opposition has called her selfish. "She's not really entitled to it, she should turn it down and not take it," said Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party.

Devika Rao, The Week US

 Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.