What was claimed
Liz Truss receives a £125k per year ex PM pension for life.
Our verdict
False. Former prime ministers don’t receive their own special pensions, but are part of the ministerial scheme that provides a pension on retirement. They’re entitled to claim up to £115,000 a year though the Public Duty Cost Allowance, but this is for expenses associated with continuing public duties and is not a pension.
Posts shared on Facebook incorrectly claim former Prime Minister Liz Truss “receives a £125k per year ex PM pension for life”.
As we’ve explained before, there is no specific “pension” for ex-prime ministers. Former prime ministers are entitled to claim the Public Duty Cost Allowance (PDCA)—an allowance of up to £115,000 per year for expenses incurred through any public duties they undertake due to their role as a former prime minister. But this is not a pension, and it’s not permanent or automatic.
The PDCA can only be used by former prime ministers to reimburse expenses “for necessary administrative costs arising from their special position in public life”, such as managing an office, dealing with correspondence and covering the costs of appearing at events in their capacity as an ex-prime minister. The money is not paid automatically—it can be claimed once expenses have been incurred.
In 2024/25 Ms Truss claimed £97,152 through the PDCA.
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Ex-prime ministers can also claim a ‘pension allowance’ to contribute towards their staff’s pension costs, limited to a maximum of 10% of the PDCA.
It’s possible the figure of £125,000 being shared on Facebook is an approximation of the full amount that can be claimed by former prime ministers through the PDCA—£115,000 plus the maximum 10% staff pension costs would equate to £126,500.
Prime ministers have been automatically enrolled in the Ministers’ Pension Scheme since 2015, while many MPs are enrolled in a separate pension scheme. Both schemes provide a pension when someone retires, not when they stop being a minister or MP. We’ve explained more about this, and the PDCA, here.
We’ve written before about misleading claims about what payments ministers are entitled to after they leave their roles, as well as claims about MPs' pay and expenses. False or misleading claims about politicians have the potential to affect people’s opinions of individuals, parties or how they choose to vote.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because former prime ministers are not entitled to a £125,000 a year pension for life on leaving office.
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