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Boris Johnson's 'night of the blond knives' reshuffle has racked up a huge bill for the taxpayer as ministers look set to trouser £250,000 in farewell payoffs.

The new Prime Minister went on a spending spree on his first day of office by wielding the axe brutally to more than half of Theresa May's top team.

Despite remaining as MPs on £79,468 a year, ministers who quit are eligible to three months of the ministerial part of their salary in the form of a severance payment.

17 of the 30 ministers in the Cabinet either resigned or quit in the reshuffle - which was compared to the retribution killings in the Godfather.

The 14 Cabinet ministers who were axed, including Philip Hammond, David Gauke, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt and Liam Fox, can get £16,876 each while three lower-level ministers are in line for £7,920 each.

That suggests the total in potential payouts is £260,027 - almost as much as Mr Johnson spent on three illegal water cannon that were sold for scrap.

(Image: Getty)

But the real total will be far higher as it does not include any exit payments made to Special Advisors, ministerial aides who have in many cases lost their jobs as a result.

It also does not include the £115,000 pot Theresa May can access for the rest of her career to pay for duties related directly to public life.

Remainers and supporters of leadership rival Jeremy Hunt were shown the door last night as Johnson ruthlessly dumped enemies - including Mr Hunt himself who quit after refusing a demotion to Defence Secretary.

It's thought to be the biggest clearout of Government ministers in political history

Meanwhile hard Brexiteer ministers are returning to government just months after they snaffled vast payoffs themselves.

Esther McVey took a £16,876 golden goodbye for resigning as Work and Pensions Secretary over Brexit just eight months ago - only to return to Cabinet as Housing Minister last night.

(Image: REUTERS)

Dominic Raab also returned last night as Foreign Secretary - just eight months after he, too, took £16,876 for resigning as Brexit Secretary.

Priti Patel, now the Home Secretary, took £16,876 too when she was forced to resign as Development Secretary in 2017 over off-the-books meetings with Israel.

Andrea Leadsom and Jo Johnson are also likely to have got severance payments - not yet declared officially - despite quitting and joining Cabinet a few months apart.

And last but not least, Boris Johnson himself took £16,876 for resigning as Foreign Secretary a year ago - only to become the Prime Minister last night.