Tony Blair's part-time bank job will make him five times more than expected

It is the first of a series of posts that could see the former prime minister rake in a staggering £40million.

He is expected to advise JP Morgan on the political and economic changes brought about by globalisation, according to the BBC.

Since leaving Number 10, Mr Blair has been an unpaid envoy to the Middle East and an after-dinner speaker.

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The move brought fierce criticism when it was first annonced last week. Reg Keys, whose soldier son Tom was killed in Iraq in 2003, said it was "almost akin to taking blood money".

He added: "If he had a conscience or any sensitivity, he would not have taken this job".

Tory defence spokesman Gerald Howarth said: "It will be viewed with some contempt by the armed forces that he picks up this large cheque when he was happy to send British troops into battle ill-equipped and in insufficient numbers."

JPMorgan is heading a consortium set to make billions as Iraq's economy recovers from the war spearheaded by Mr Blair and U.S. President George Bush.

It was chosen to run the new Trade Bank of Iraq, which has raised billions in trade guarantees by mortgaging future oil production and will make huge profits from the deals.

Westminster watchdogs have ordered Mr Blair not to attempt to lobby his former Government colleagues on behalf of the bank for the next 12 months.

But that appears to be no barrier to his employment prospects. The Wall Street bank said he would provide strategic and political advice, as well as appearing at events with its clients.

The deal will certainly help him and his wife Cherie pay off an estimated £5million in mortgages.

Mr Blair, 54, who said he wanted his career after No.10 to be of "real purpose" rather than "just about doing a job", is already reported to be earning hundreds of thousands a month as an after-dinner speaker.

Other sources of income include a £5million deal to write his memoirs and a prime ministerial pension of £64,000 a year.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is spearheading a campaign to have him installed as the first president of the EU - a post expected to be worth at least £200,000 a year.

In all, experts believe Mr Blair can expect to pocket double the £20million earned by former U.S. president Bill Clinton.