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Ministers have “no political input” into the pay of advisers, a cabinet secretary insisted on Thursday as he defended Sir Keir Starmer’s most senior aide receiving a £170,000 salary.
The Prime Minister’s chief of staff Sue Gray is reportedly now paid £3,000 more than Sir Keir after receiving a bumper wage rise following Labour’s election win.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds dismissed suggestions that the PM personally intervened to increase her pay, which has sparked a row within government and prompted Tory MPs to demand answers about how the decision was made.
“There is, and has always been in our system, officials who are paid more than politicians, whether that’s in local government or in national government,” Mr Reynolds told LBC.
“I can understand why that generates a bit of interest, but as long as the proper process has been followed, that is how we do these things.
He added on Sky News: “I don’t get to set the pay for my own advisers who work directly for me. So there’s a process, we don’t have political input into that.”
On whether Sir Keir personally intervened to increase Ms Gray’s salary, Mr Reynolds said: “There’s a process that sets these things. It is widely recognised. It’s long-standing. It hasn’t changed and that is how pay bands are set.”
The appointment of Ms Gray, a former senior civil servant whose report into lockdown-era parties in Downing Street contributed to the downfall of then-prime minister Boris Johnson, to Sir Keir’s inner circle was controversial.
A source told the BBC that it was suggested to Ms Gray she “might want to go for a few thousand pounds less than the Prime Minister to avoid” media coverage, but she declined. It is the latest in a string of negative stories about the aide.
Downing Street denied this week that there was a “nest of vipers” behind the scenes in Sir Keir’s administration after reports of tensions involving senior officials, including between Ms Gray and director of political strategy Morgan McSweeney.
Over the weekend, Sir Keir sought to play down the rumours about Ms Gray, saying: “I’m not going to talk behind her back and I’m not going to talk about individual members of staff, whether it’s Sue Gray or any other member of staff.
“All I can say about the stories is most of them are wildly wrong.”
It comes amid criticism about the amount of freebies the Prime Minister and his wife have received.
The PM was given £16,200 worth of clothing from Labour donor Lord Waheed Alli, which was initially described as “private support for the office of the leader of the opposition” in his register of interests.
He allegedly broke parliamentary rules by originally failing to register clothing worth more than £5,000 given to his wife Victoria by Lord Alli, the Sunday Times reported.
Sir Keir and Lady Starmer also went to see Taylor Swift for free and the PM has accepted hospitality at several Arsenal football matches.
Mr Reynolds said: “I think these are major cultural, sporting events. I think it’s important people in public life have some connection to that. Going to see Taylor Swift — I’ve never seen her myself, but I hear it’s a very significant and lovely experience to do so.”
