What next for Boris Johnson?

The soon-to-be-former prime minister is not the retiring type, writes Sean O’Grady – we can expect to see plenty more of him

Boris Johnson during a recent visit to EDF’s Sizewell B nuclear power station (Getty)

There’s no job description for former prime ministers, except, perhaps, James Callaghan’s blunt injunction to ex-leaders: “Don’t speak to the captain; don’t spit on the deck.” Boris Johnson, we may be sure, is just too temperamentally undisciplined to follow that advice.

The rumours are that Johnson wishes to “put some hay in the loft” – make some serious money – before he surfaces and contemplates the biggest comeback since Lazarus. Funding is required. That means speaking, writing, and generally entertaining audiences for the next few months at the least.

He’ll stay in the Commons (privileges committee permitting), because the £84,144 salary, plus expenses, is useful pin money and provides him with a platform if need be (and eligibility to stand for leader). A newspaper column would seem a decent bet, although Johnson isn’t going to be rewarded handsomely for writing car reviews, say, as he once did, or Martin Lewis-style money-saving tips (the very thought!) – he will be expected to spill beans, administer jibes, and take side-swipes. Inevitably, Liz Truss will be collateral damage.