What was claimed
As a former prime minister, Keir Starmer will get a “pension” or “salary” worth £115,000 a year.
Our verdict
This is misleading. The £115,000 figure is the maximum amount ex-PMs can claim each year to cover necessary costs associated with their ongoing duties.
As Andy Burnham takes over as Prime Minister, we’ve seen claims circulating online that Keir Starmer will get a “pension” or “salary” worth £115,000 a year.
But as we’ve explained before, that isn’t quite right.
For the purposes of this fact check, we are only assessing the claims about the £115,000 figure. This actually refers to the Public Duty Costs Allowance (PDCA)—an allowance that can be used by former PMs to reimburse expenses “for necessary administrative costs arising from their special position in public life”. These might include managing an office, dealing with correspondence and covering the costs of appearing at events in their capacity as an ex-prime minister.
Crucially, the £115,000 is not paid like a pension or a salary. It is just the maximum amount that an ex-PM can claim in expenses each year for any costs they have incurred.
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Former prime ministers can also claim a ‘pension allowance’ on top of this to contribute towards their staff’s pension costs, limited to a maximum of 10% of the PDCA.
The most recent government figures show that in 2024/25, five of the eight living former PMs claimed the maximum or close to the maximum £115,000 entitlement.
David Cameron was not entitled to claim the PDCA for part of this financial year while he was serving as foreign secretary, while Liz Truss also did not claim the full amount. Rishi Sunak MP has said that he does not intend to claim the PDCA.
We wrote in more detail about the PDCA and other entitlements available to former PMs back in 2024.
