Rupert Murdoch pays £11,000 for Boris Johnson to visit

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch paid much than £11,000 for Boris Johnson to sojourn him successful the US past month, the latest database of MPs' fiscal interests shows.

Mr Johnson and 2 unit members were flown to Montana connected 11 and 12 October - with interior US flights, accommodation and hospitality paid for by Mr Murdoch.

The brace held a backstage meeting, the BBC understands.

The latest database besides shows Mr Johnson was paid £276,000 for a code 5 weeks aft leaving Downing Street.

On 14 October - a fewer days aft visiting Mr Murdoch - Mr Johnson spoke to the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers successful Colorado Springs. He gave a 30-minute code and a 45-minute "fireside chat" astatine the event.

The erstwhile PM is understood to person worked for eight-and-a-half hours, meaning helium was paid an hourly complaint of much than £32,400. Mr Johnson and 2 members of unit besides received escaped transport and accommodation.

The Register of Members' Financial Interests is published doubly a period and shows MPs' extracurricular income, gifts, visits and different benefits - thing they person which could power their actions, speeches oregon votes successful Parliament.

Mr Johnson's sojourn to Mr Murdoch - who reportedly bought a ranch successful Montana past December - came conscionable implicit a week earlier Liz Truss resigned arsenic UK premier minister. Her resignation sparked a enactment contention which saw Mr Johnson triumph enactment to run, earlier dramatically withdrawing from the contest.

It is not the archetypal clip Mr Johnson and Mr Murdoch person met. The brace held respective meetings portion Mr Johnson was premier curate - according to Cabinet Office records - and besides met erstwhile Mr Johnson was politician of London.

Mr Murdoch's News Corp owns respective newspapers including the Wall Street Journal successful the US, and the Sun and the Times successful the UK.

For decades the billionaire was a unit successful authorities astatine the highest level. But aft the phone-hacking ungraded and the closure of The News of The World successful 2011, his governmental allies deserted him and his estimation was knocked.

However his power began to emergence again erstwhile governmental hopefuls specified arsenic Nigel Farage and erstwhile US President Donald Trump approached Mr Murdoch for help.

This week, quality outlets that are portion of Mr Murdoch's empire appeared to ditch enactment for Mr Trump. On Tuesday night, Fox News chopped distant during Trump's announcement of his caller White House campaign, the Wall Street Journal editorial committee called Trump a "loser" and the New York Post covered the quality with the headline: "Florida Man Makes Announcement".

Thursday's update to the UK MPs' fiscal interests database besides shows: