Government announces crackdown on 'golden goodbyes' to ex-ministers after Tory farce

A crackdown on pay-offs given to ex-ministers will end the farce that allowed Kemi Badenoch to pocket a golden goodbye and then return to the frontbench weeks later.

New plans will restrict eligibility for ministerial severance payments, which cost the taxpayer nearly £1million in 2022 under the shambolic Tory merry-go-round, which saw them change leaders from Boris Johnson to Liz Truss and then Rishi Sunak.

Under the current rules, ministers can get a payout worth three months’ salary when they leave office - regardless of how long they’ve been in the job.

But from October, ministers who serve for under six months or who leave office following a serious breach of the Ministerial Code will no longer get a golden goodbye. And those who return to office within three months of leaving will forgo their salary until the end of that three month period.

This will end the loophole that saw Ms Badenoch get a pay-off after quitting as a minister and then keep the money when she returned to the frontbench soon after.

The Tory leader received £7,920 when she resigned as a Levelling Up Minister in Boris Johnson’s government on 6 July 2022. But she made a comeback two months later when she was appointed to the Cabinet under Liz Truss on 6 September 2022.

Julia Lopez, who is her Parliamentary Private Secretary, also benefited from the loophole. She got £7,920 when she quit as Culture Minister in July 2022, only to return to the same job two months later when Ms Truss became PM. It means they both ended up getting more money than if they hadn’t taken the summer off.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Keir Starmer is cleaning up politics after 14 years of sleaze and scandal under the Tories. We are ending the farce that saw Kemi Badenoch get a pay-off when she quit as a minister - then keep the money when she returned just weeks later.”

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden confirmed plans today to set up a new Ethics and Integrity Commission to crack down on sleaze in public life. It will act as a one-stop shop for standards in public life, and report annually to the Prime Minister.

The Advisory Committee for Business Appointments (Acoba), which vets the jobs that ministers and senior officials take after leaving government, will be abolished.

The revolving door watchdog, which has been criticised for being toothless, will see its functions split between the Civil Service Commission and the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards.

For the first time, ex-ministers found to have breached the rules after leaving office will be ordered to pay back their severance payments.

Mr McFadden said: “This overhaul will mean there are stronger rules, fewer quangos and clearer lines of accountability. The Committee on Standards in Public Life has played an important role in the past three decades. These changes give it a new mandate for the future.

“But whatever the institutional landscape, the public will in the end judge politicians and government by how they do their jobs and how they fulfil the principles of public service.”