More than £8m of public money spent on subsidies for former PMs

Annual cost of allowance has more than doubled in recent years because of quick turnover of prime ministers

More than £8m of taxpayers’ money has been spent on funding the public lives of former prime ministers over the last three decades, a Guardian analysis has found.

All former PMs are able to claim up to £115,000 a year – until the end of their lives – in a subsidy to enable them to contribute to public life after they have left Downing Street.