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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dan Bloom

Boris Johnson 'to skip Tory conference and coin it in with speeches' after leaving as PM

Chillaxing Boris Johnson is set to skip Tory conference and coin it in with speeches after he leaves as PM tomorrow, allies have claimed.

The Prime Minister already took two holidays over the summer, despite the clock ticking towards his farewell speech tomorrow morning.

Now reports suggest he will give the annual bash in Birmingham a miss, following in the footsteps of David Cameron and Theresa May after they were ousted too.

According to the FT, he has told friends there is a bidding war between the Telegraph, which paid him £275,000 a year he claimed was ‘chicken feed’, and the Daily Mail for his columns.

He could revive his career as a history writer or cash in on the after-dinner speaker circuit - which previously rewarded him by up to £47,254 an hour.

Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie have been house-hunting in leafy south London and have reportedly set their eyes on a five-bedroom home in Labour-voting Herne Hill.

Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie have been house-hunting in leafy south London (AFP via Getty Images)

The couple and their two children could settle on a sought-after street where properties routinely sell for over £3million, according to the i.

Ministerial rules ban Boris Johnson from cashing in on speeches while in government - but that restriction is lifted as a back bench MP.

There is a watchdog called Acoba to police the ‘revolving door’ between government and private sector jobs, but Mr Johnson has previously ignored its rules.

Downing Street has previously refused to confirm if Mr Johnson will keep serving as an MP after he is ousted.

Even if he decides to remain an MP and fight the next election, Labour are hopeful of eroding his 7,210 majority in Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

And the bumbling speaker has always been popular among the Tory faithful, drawing huge crowds for his remarks at conferences even before he was made PM.

The bumbling speaker has always been popular among the Tory faithful (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Pal Lord Marland, a former trade envoy, told the BBC last week that Mr Johnson wants to "go and put hay in the loft" after he leaves office.

"As he said to me the other day, he wants to go and put hay in the loft, in other words to build up his bank balance so that he can afford to pay for the lifestyle that he has created," he said.

In his final appearance at Prime Minister's Questions, he famously declared "Hasta la vista, baby."

The Spanish term translates as "see you later", but it is also a catchphrase of Arnold Schwarzenegger's cyborg character in the 1991 movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

The Terminator is also known for the catchphrase: "I'll be back."

Former chief of staff and close aide Lord Udny-Lister said that Mr Johnson will be "very sad" as he travels to Balmoral to formally offer his resignation to the Queen.

But he also told Sky News that he would "never say never" about a return for Mr Johnson.

"He is going to be watching all this and if something happens in the future, as you said, the ball comes loose in the scrum, then anything can happen.

"I'm not going to predict. All I'm saying is, I would never write him off."

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