What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Boris Johnson has been ordered to apologise for failing to declare £52,722.80 in income by the Commons standards watchdog.

The former foreign secretary offered a "full and unreserved" apology in a 35-second statement in the House of Commons.

The Committee on Standards said Mr Johnson "acted in breach of the House's rules on the registration of his financial interests by failing to register remuneration within the required timetable on nine occasions".

In its report the watchdog said this referred to a total amount £52,722.80 which represents almost seventy per cent of a Member’s salary.

It covers books penned by Mr Johnson, trips to the Oval cricket ground and his weekly Telegraph column.

It said: "The number of late registrations suggested a lack of attention to the House’s requirements, rather than inadvertent error."

The report advised that Mr Johnson make an apology to the House of Commons.

(Image: Getty Images)

In his brief personal address to the Commons, Mr Johnson said: "The Committee on Standards has today published a report on nine payments, mainly unexpected foreign royalties, which I am very sorry to say were recorded late on the register of Members' interests."I fully accept that the delay was a breach of the House's rules and, though I'm grateful to the committee for recognising that there was no intention to mislead the House and that I had been completely transparent, I therefore offer the House a full and unreserved apology."

The former Foreign Secretary has already been reprimanded by Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), the watchdog that polices the 'revolving door' between Whitehall and the public sector.

In August Whitehall officials ruled it was "unacceptable" for the Tory MP to take up a lucrative column with the Daily Telegraph just three days after quitting as Foreign Secretary.

The column - which used to pay the Tory MP £267,000 a year - is where Mr Johnson made his now-infamous comments comparing burqas to "letterboxes".

Yet by taking it Mr Johnson directly breached the Ministerial Code, which says ministers should not take up any outside jobs within three months of leaving office.