Osborne to earn £650,000 a year advising US financial firm

The former chancellor was in the Commons for Wednesday's Budget

Former Chancellor George Osborne is to be paid £650,000 a year for advising the US fund manager Blackrock.

In an updated entry in the Commons register of interests, he disclosed that he would be paid £162,500 each quarter and would work 48 days a year.

He has already earned close to £800,000 for speeches made to banks and other firms since leaving office in July

The MP for Tatton said he had consulted the business appointments watchdog before taking on the Blackrock job.

The register of members' interests also states Mr Osborne expects to receive "registrable equity"- shares - in Blackrock "in the future".

The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments advises ministers on whether it is appropriate for them to take on jobs within two years of leaving office.

When it named him as an adviser to its Investment Institute in January, Blackrock said Mr Osborne would provide "perspectives on European politics and policy and Chinese economic reforms" as well as wider geo-political trends.

He joins his former chief of staff, Rupert Harrison, who is a senior strategist for the US investment firm.

Former foreign secretary William Hague joined Citigroup as an adviser earlier this year while former prime minister Gordon Brown sits on the global advisory board at investment manager Pimco, and his predecessor Tony Blair joined JP Morgan in 2008 shortly after leaving office.

Mr Osborne, who served as chancellor between 2010 and 2016 before being sacked by Theresa May after she took power, was in the Commons on Wednesday to watch his successor Philip Hammond deliver his first Budget.

After the event, he tweeted that "sound money and fiscal responsibility are the only secure foundations of a fair and strong economy".