Take a junior job and dodge the DWP: MPs’ post-ministerial incomes ranked

theguardian.com:

Pity the ambitious young Tory MP. The top jobs in Liz Truss’s government have been briefed and decided. Short of any huge upsets, the great offices of state have been filled, cutting off the possibility of significant advancement for some backbench Truss supporters.

As they are left in the cold, standing outside the cabinet revolving door, the chance of becoming a household name and a significantly higher earner is vanishing. So too is the hope of the post-ministerial earnings that sometimes follow such high-profile gigs.

But there are still positions for the prime minister to fill, lower rungs of the ministerial ladder that historically have opened doors to some interesting future jobs. And some are more lucrative than you might think.

The Guardian has analysed more than 170 post-ministerial roles taken up by Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs since 2010 and calculated the financial potential of different ministerial ranks across Whitehall. The earnings were assessed using declarations by former ministers who remained MPs and published their outside income in the register of members’ interests, looking at jobs picked up in the two-year period after they left their role.

MPs should not turn their nose up at the prospect of becoming a parliamentary undersecretary, the most junior of the ministerial roles in a department: after finishing their role these are paid a median of about £80,000, more than ministers of state (£50,250) and even secretaries of state (£77,000).

If they are hoping their next role in government will be their last, they should not take a job in the Home Office, which has the lowest post-ministerial earnings of £5,000. The Department for Work and Pensions, likewise, is best avoided.

MPs would be well