A furious war of words has erupted inside 10 Downing Street after it emerged that Keir Starmer’s chief of staff earns more than he does.
The BBC reported that Sue Gray’s salary was increased to £170,000 after the general election. The prime minister receives around £167,000.
Several unnamed government special advisers - who are known in Westminster as SpAds - were quoted attacking Gray, who has been accused of turning down their pleas for higher wages.
One said: “It’s bizarre. 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.”
Another described Gray’s pay package as “the highest ever special adviser salary in the history of special advisers”.
The attacks on Gray sparked an angry backlash from her allies in Downing Street.
One government source told HuffPost UK: “Any questions people have should be directed at the process and not an individual.”
Another source insisted it was “categorically untrue” that Gray was warned that her pay rise would put her on a higher salary than the PM but went ahead with it anyway.
The source said: “Sue Gray had no involvement in any decision on her pay. She was informed of her salary after this had been set.”
A Cabinet Office spokesman told the BBC: “It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay.
“Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials not political appointees. As set out publicly, special advisers cannot authorise expenditure of public funds or have responsibility for budgets.”
However, HuffPost UK has also learned that Gray sits on the “Special Adviser People Board”, which decides SpAd pay, alongside senior civil servants Darren Tierney, Fiona Ryland and Simon Madden.
The latest briefings against Gray come amid well-documented tensions between her and Morgan McSweeney, No.10′s head of political strategy.
She first rose to national prominence while she was still a senior civil servants and conducted the government investigation into the partygate scandal.
Her damning report into lockdown-breaking parties inside 10 Downing Street was one of the contributory factors which ultimately led to Boris Johnson’s resignation as prime minister in 2022.