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Theresa May has earned more than £500,000 for ‘virtual’ speeches during the pandemic – making her the highest-earning MP last year.
Despite a sharp fall in appearance fees on the international lecture circuit and criticism of the former Prime Minister’s lack of charisma,
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that she received £502,837 for 12 speaking engagements from last September to June.
It takes her earnings from speeches since she was ousted from No 10 in July 2019 to almost £1.9 million.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that she received £502,837 for 12 speaking engagements from last September to June
Rates for speakers have fallen by up to 90 per cent during lockdown, in part because events have moved online.
Mrs May commanded a speech fee of up to £110,000 before the pandemic, but her online rates have held up better than most at between £38,000 and £48,245, according to Parliament’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests.
In April, the 64-year-old Tory MP for Maidenhead earned £76,000 for two separate online speeches on the same day – one to a company in Salt Lake City, Utah, the other to a firm in Carmel, California.
In September she was paid £46,750 for a virtual speech to the Telmex Foundation, a philanthropic body.
Other clients have included