Salaries of Special Advisers: Sue Gray Surpasses the Prime Minister

The salary structure of the British state apparatus is once again causing a stir. According to government sources, Sue Gray, the chief of staff to Sir Keir Starmer, earns more than the Prime Minister himself. Following a salary increase after the elections, her salary rose to £170,000. This figure surpasses the Prime Minister's salary of £166,786 as well as that of Cabinet ministers, who earn £158,851. Interestingly, Gray's salary also exceeds that of her Conservative predecessor, Liam Booth-Smith, who earned between £140,000 and £145,000. The revelation of Gray's new salary comes after anonymous briefings within the government and might indicate increasing unease within the new administration, just a few months after their landslide election victory. The announcement of her compensation is expected to further fuel discontent among several Labour special advisers who have privately complained about their own salaries and contracts. The BBC reports that Gray requested and received approval for the salary she is now receiving. The Cabinet Office emphasized, however, that political appointees could not, under any circumstances, decide on their own salary bands or compensation. Decisions about the salaries of special advisers are always made by officials, not political appointees. The Tories criticized the "unprecedented" salary and posed ten questions to Starmer, including whether the Prime Minister personally approved Gray's salary increase and whether Gray played a role in determining her own salary or that of other special advisers. Additionally, the opposition pointed out that Georgia Gould, a minister in the Cabinet Office, left a parliamentary query from Tory MP John Glen about changes to salary caps for special advisers unanswered this week. Gould stated that the information would be published in the annual report. The new government is already facing tensions among some special advisers regarding their employment contracts after the party took power in July. A Labour insider expressed surprise at the amount of discontent some feel. Many advisers feared for their job security during the election and now feel unfairly treated in terms of their compensation. Not all political advisers who worked for Labour frontbenchers during the opposition were taken into government. Some of those who were brought in had expected salary increases but have felt underpaid. A senior civil servant warned that Gray appears to be "dangerously exposed" and recommended that she reduce her public profile to avoid becoming an untenable distraction for Starmer's government.