The decision to increase the PM’s chief of staff’s salary to £170,000 has ignited a row within the government. Gray, whose report while a senior civil servant into Downing Street parties during the pandemic contributed to Johnson’s downfall…reports Asian Lite News
Keir Starmer’s chief of staff received a pay rise after the election which means she is now paid more than the prime minister. Sue Gray asked for and was given a salary of £170,000 – £3,000 more than the PM and more than any cabinet minister – or her Conservative predecessor.
A government source close to Gray said this claim was “categorically untrue” and she had “had no involvement in any decision on her pay”.
The decision has ignited a row within government over Gray, whose report while a senior civil servant into parties in Downing Street during the pandemic contributed to the downfall of Boris Johnson. She then went on to work as a Labour Party adviser.
Her wide-ranging role as the prime minister’s chief of staff includes controlling access to the PM and helping to ensure the government’s policies are put into action.
Her Conservative predecessor Liam, now Lord, Booth Smith, who did the job under Rishi Sunak, was paid at the upper end of the highest pay band for special advisers, between £140,000 and £145,000 a year.
The boost in Gray’s pay comes after the prime minister signed off a rebanding of the salaries for special advisers shortly after taking office. The government says the rebanding was done by officials, not by Gray herself, and her salary is not at the top of the new highest band for special advisers.
News of Gray’s pay rise is the latest in a line of leaks about her which paint a picture of fractious relationships at the very top of government, just months into Labour’s tenure. “It speaks to the dysfunctional way No10 is being run – no political judgement, an increasingly grand Sue who considers herself to be the deputy prime minister, hence the salary and no other voice for the prime minister to hear as everything gets run through Sue,” one insider said.
The prime minister earns £166,786.
One angry government insider branded Gray’s pay “the highest ever special adviser salary in the history of special advisers”. Others in government speak passionately in Gray’s defence and believe there is a misplaced and deeply personal campaign against her which is grossly unfair.
A government source said “any questions should be directed at the process and not an individual”. Asked about Gray being paid more than the PM, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We’re very lucky to have Sue.”
Another cabinet minister, speaking on condition of anonymity said: “Sue has done an enormous job preparing Labour for government, and is now showing her customary drive to get Whitehall to deliver on Labour’s priorities. She won’t be distracted, she will carry on doing what she always does, focus on delivering the change that the British people voted for.”
Gray’s salary has sparked such a row in government partly because other advisers believe they are being underpaid.
Every cabinet minister has at least two special advisers, many of whom also worked with them in opposition. Then, they were paid by the Labour Party.
Most were expecting pay rises upon entering government only to discover they would in fact be paid less. Many of the disappointed advisers blame Gray specifically – although others insist that pay is a matter for civil servants.
The majority of those on the committee within Whitehall responsible for special advisers pay and conditions are civil servants, but Gray is on it too. “It’s bizarre,” one furious adviser said. “I’m working harder than ever in a more important job and they want to pay me less than the Labour Party was paying me when it was broke.” These frustrations are not confined to junior advisers.
A source claimed that the prime minister’s director of communications, Matthew Doyle, was initially offered a salary of £110,000, significantly less than Gray’s. This was later raised to £140,000, a figure in line with several of his predecessors doing the same job.
There is no suggestion there was any anger internally over Doyle’s pay.
Many special advisers worked for weeks without being shown a proposed employment contract, meaning that by the time they discovered what their salary would be they had essentially no choice but to accept it.
Again, Gray was widely blamed for the delay in formal contracts being circulated. When Gray was hired as Starmer’s chief of staff in 2023 she was tasked with working on Labour’s preparations for government.
Special advisers see the row over their salaries as a sign that the work was not carried out in enough detail. “If you ever see any evidence of our preparations for government, please let me know,” one adviser said.
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