FORMER Prime Minister Theresa May has earned more than £1 million for public speaking this year.

She has been handed £1,000,289 so far in 2020 for speaking at various events despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest MPs register of financial interests.

That means the Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister between 2016 and 2019, is the MP who has earned the most from a second job this year.

Payments are made to her own company, called the Office of Theresa May, and she takes home £85,000 a year. This is for a minimum of 24 hours work each month – at around £295 an hour.

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The rest of the money is used to pay employees, maintain her ongoing involvement in public life and support her charitable work, according to the register.

The largest payment she received (£160,370) was made by the investment bank JP Morgan Chase in April for two speaking events, which have been cancelled but are due to be rescheduled.

The Maidenhead MP, whose constituency includes areas of Wokingham, was also paid £136,000 in September for speaking at the World Knowledge Forum in South Korea.

In February, Mrs May received two payments of £115,000 for making speeches at Dubai Women’s Establishment event and a Structured Finance Association event in Washington.

And in early March, she was paid £115,000 for speaking at Brown University in Rhode Island and another £115,000 for delivering a keynote speech at Trinity University in Texas.

Other payments include £101,169 from World 50 in Atlanta, £ 96,000 from PricewaterhouseCoopers and £46,750 from the Telmex Foundation in Mexico.

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Her speaking events are organised by the Washington Speakers Bureau.

Like all MPs, Mrs May receives a basic salary of £79,468 a year, but that is expected to rise to £81,932 in 2021.

Mrs May is following in the footsteps of a long list of former Prime Ministers and US Presidents who are paid handsomely for public speaking.