Boris Johnson said he made ‘financial sacrifices’ to be MP – despite pocketing £275,000 from Telegraph

Put on the spot at Tory leadership hustings, the former foreign secretary also made clear that becoming prime minister would mean it would take him longer to finish a book he is writing about William Shakespeare.

Asked when he had set aside his own self interest for the good of the country, Johnson said: “It is obviously possible to make more money by not being a full-time politician.

“You have to make sacrifices sometimes and that is the right thing to do.

“Being a full-time politician means that I won’t be able, for instance, to rapidly complete a book on Shakespeare that I have in preparation.”

Since quitting the cabinet over Brexit last year, Johnson has resumed his Daily Telegraph column for which he is paid £275,000 annually, and commands huge fees as a corporate speaker, with one recent event earning him £42,580.

Johnson also revealed at the hustings he did not like using the word austerity.

Asked if austerity was over, the front runner for the Tory crown said: “Austerity itself is, I think, not a helpful term.

“I never liked it.

“I remember Dave Cameron saying to me he wanted to have an austerity Olympics and I said ‘no way mate, no way’.

“That was not the stuff to give the troops. What we wanted was a great Olympics.”