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Ken makes an after dinner mint of £100,000
Amar Singh, Media Correspondent16.05.08
Ken Livingstone has already made £100,000 in bookings for a series of lucrative speeches two weeks after he was voted out of City Hall.
The former Mayor is going on the black-tie dinner circuit where he is charging £10,000 for a 45-minute speech. According to Speakers For Business, interest in him is sky-high and he is being hired at a rate of around one booking a day. Appearances at 10 business events are already confirmed, earning £100,000.
The sum could be boosted by a £69,000 pay-off from the taxpayer, which Mr Livingstone is entitled to according to the conditions of the mayoralty.
Speakers For Business say Mr Livingstone is "the country's most in-demand speaker" and are touting him as an expert in leadership, business and politics.
Managing director Brendan Barnes said: "Ken is proving extremely popular. People either love him or hate him, he's that kind of character, but he always speaks his mind and that sets him apart from your average political figure on the circuit.
"He has some great tales to tell and has run London for eight years so I'm sure business people can learn a lot from him."
He added: "We worked with him for many years before he became Mayor so we know what kind of impact he can have.
"He's a character - who would you rather have speak at your event, Ken Livingstone or Gordon Brown? There's no contest."
Tony Blair earns up to £250,000 for a 90-minute after-dinner speech while John Major can still command £30,000 for each speech.
The world's top earner is Bill Clinton who has amassed £20 million since 2001 through speaking engagements alone. He charges up to £300,000 per speech.
Mayor Boris Johnson had made between £5,000 and £10,000 a speech over the past few years.
Reader views (17)
Here's a sample of the latest views published.
Ah, look...another member of the communist elite. Ken's obviously more equal than everyone else.
- Matt, UK
Anyone prepared to pay hard-earned money to listen to Ken's drivel needs their head examined.
- Rm, London, England
Well, at least its not at the tax payers expense any more!
- Terry G, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain
Good for you, Ken. There's more sense comes out of Ken's mouth in 5 minutes than Boris can manage in a whole day!
- Bob, Enfield, England
Hope he gives some of the money to good causes.
- David Short, London
Who in their right mind would to listen or see Red Ken.
- Mike, London
Destroys the urban myth that he's some hard up socialist.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
If people are really prepared to pay £10,000 for 45 minutes of his voice, more fool them.
- Kevin T, SE London
Go Ken. Really glad the real people still value your knowledge. You have a huge amount to offer. Enjoy!
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa. Spain
I wished he had gone on the speaking circuit 4 years ago! What a breadth of fresh air not to hear him speak. Strange, I am not suffering Ken withdrawal symptoms.
- V Tan, London
I definitely wouldn't pay to hear Livingstone speak, although I might chip in a little something for him to shut up!
- Alasdair, London
More fools the people who pay to hear him speak!
- Peter, n1
Ken is a selfish egoistic disgrace who ended up with his snout in the trough. Good riddance. Everybody can now see him for what he is.
- Mikko Takala, Drumnadrochit, Scotland
"He's a character - who would you rather have speak at your event, Ken Livingstone or Gordon Brown? There's no contest."
Neither really, I don't think I could afford the security to hold back half a room from rushing the stage and trying to throttle them.
- Jimbob, Kensington
And we all thought he was a good leftie red socialist labourer!
- Annabelle, london
Good for him...
That should keep him out of trouble... for a while!
- James, London
Ha Ha Ha
Go Ken, after 30 years of working for London, fill your boots son!
And you know what- he'd give up every penny to be able to see the work he did as Mayor through- not the flouncy crowd-pleasing window-dressing that's going on at the moment, but important legacy stuff, like delivering Crossrail.
- Fresh, London
