Taxpayers are footing an annual bill of as much as £24m for providing 24-hour armed police protection to Britain’s burgeoning retinue of former prime ministers, according to policing insiders.
Sir Keir Starmer’s departure from Downing Street as soon as next month means the UK will have a record nine former occupants of No 10, all of whom are entitled to round-the-clock police protection funded from the public purse for the rest of their lives.
The eye-watering security bill is a by-product of Britain’s recent penchant for political volatility, which means Starmer’s successor will be the UK’s seventh prime minister since Brexit, as parties increasingly seek to curry favour with a brittle electorate by changing leader.
In the 20th century, the number of living ex-prime ministers never exceeded five, and until 2020, it took Britain 41 years to get through seven occupants of No 10.
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