Boris Johnson has told friends his minister’s salary of £141,405 a year is not enough to live on, according to reports.
The Foreign Secretary told friends his annual earnings were insufficient because of his “extensive family responsibilities”, according to a report in The Sunday Times.
The Tory MP has four children with his second wife, Marina Wheeler. He also fathered a daughter during an affair with arts consultant Helen MacIntyre, failing to get an injunction to prevent the reporting of her existence.
The report comes as Mr Johnson mounts a renewed assault on Theresa May, setting out new “red lines” for Brexit in an interview with The Sun newspaper.
The MP for Ruislip called for an absolute two-year limit on any transition period, during which the UK should refuse to accept the jurisdiction rulings from the EU or the European Court of Justice.
He also said the UK should refuse to make payments for single market access after this period.
The interview also places the Foreign Secretary at odds with the Prime Minister, whose key speech in Florence implied the length and terms of the transition period could be more flexible. Despite his apparent challenge, the Prime Minister said on The Andrew Marr Show that Mr Johnson was “absolutely behind” her leadership.
“What I have is a cabinet united in the mission of this government and that is what you will see this week and agreed on the approach we take in Florence,” she said.
A YouGov poll published this week found Mr Johnson is now favourite to be the party’s next leader among Conservative party members. According to the survey, Mr Johnson has the backing of 23 per cent of activists, ahead of Ms Davidson on 19 per cent and Eurosceptic backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg on 17 per cent.
But his repeated media interventions have led to a backlash from some within the Conservative Party. Writing in The Independent, ex-cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said she believed Mr Johnson had "no place in a responsible government".
