A WEALTHY Tory politician has said people earning £30,000 a year may not have the “skills that Parliament needs” as he called for MPs to earn more.
Former health secretary Sajid Javid said MPs who had been earning slightly less than the median UK salary – around £33,000 per year – may benefit from the “big jump” when they enter Parliament where members are paid £86,584 before housing, travel, staffing and office costs.
Speaking at an Institute for Government event on Monday morning, the Tory MP said if he was in charge, he would cut the number of parliamentarians by half and double their pay.
Sajid Javid reckons MPs aren't getting paid enough as it is, and suggests their pay is DOUBLED pic.twitter.com/srq9jWPPPr
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) July 3, 2023
He argued this would result in a “higher quality of parliament and ministers”.
The Bromsgrove MP left the world of international banking – where he was reportedly earning around £3 million per year – to become a politician.
He said: “You get what you pay for. You get what you pay for. You know, if you want, if people want to see GPs or nurses, senior nurses or head teachers or an accountant, give up their job and to want to come into Parliament they have to take a massive fall in their lifestyle to do it and a lot of people are not willing to do that.
“So you either get, you tend then to get in Parliament therefore either really rich people that don’t need money and therefore they don’t care if their salary is £88,000 or £28,000 or you will get people that were earning sort of £30,000 – £80,000 is a big jump but they might not come with the skills that Parliament needs.
“If I had my way, I would halve the number of employees and double the salaries. That wouldn’t cost the taxpayer a penny and you’d get a much higher quality of Parliament and ministers.”
Javid has tried unsuccessfully to lead the Conservative Party on two occasions and has previously served as chancellor, health secretary and home secretary.
In protest over the Chris Pincher scandal, Javid resigned as Boris Johnson’s health secretary in July 2022.
MPs were unpaid before 1911, meaning only those who were independently wealthy could serve in Parliament.
