Morgan McSweeney is paid less than rival Sue Gray was in same role
New figures show Morgan McSweeney earns between £155,000 and £160,000, compared with the £140,000 to £145,000 earnt by Liam Booth-Smith under the last Tory government.
Mr McSweeney took over as chief of staff from Ms Gray, a former civil servant, in October 2024 following damaging power battles.
His salary is at least £10,000 less than the £170,000 Ms Gray demanded when she began her four-month stint in the post.
Overall, there are now 130 special advisers across government, compared with 128 under Mr Sunak.
Special advisers, or 'spads', are political appointees who are not part of the impartial Civil Service that runs Whitehall.
Some 23 of them earn more than £100,000, up one from the last Conservative government.
Special advisers on six-figure salaries take home £3.1m in pay under Sir Keir, compared with £2.7m under Mr Sunak.
Sir Keir's original choice as chief of staff was Ms Gray, who left the Civil Service to join Labour in March 2023. Her appointment was controversial as she had written the partygate report which led to the fall of Boris Johnson.
She moved with Sir Keir to Downing Street in July 2024 but soon became embroiled in an argument over her demand to be paid more than the Prime Minister, while special advisers were facing lower salaries than when in Opposition.
Her £170,000 pay packet was £3,000 more than the Prime Minister's wage.
Despite having worked with Sir Keir for years and having helped him turn Labour into an election-winning organisation, Mr McSweeney was given a lesser role as head of political strategy.
In post, he reportedly clashed with Ms Gray, prompting one Cabinet minister to say: ' One or both of them will have to go. It's not going to be Morgan.'
Angela Rayner has six spads
The latest information on special advisers was released by the Government on Thursday afternoon as Parliament prepared to go into recess.
Salaries for those on more than £76,000 are given in £5,000 bands. Sir Keir alone has 42 spads, of whom eight are on more than £145,000.
Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, has six spads with the highest earning up to £105,000.
However, this total is exceeded by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who has nine spads including one on up to £150,000.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has five spads and Foreign Secretary David Lammy has four.
Most others have three or four although Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has managed to employ five.
The document states: 'As at 31 March 2025, there were 130 (128.67 full-time equivalent) special advisers working across Government.
'The special adviser pay bill for the financial year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 was £16.7million.
'This includes £3.1million paid in severance payments to special advisers, and a pay award of 5 per cent for eligible special advisers.
'A special adviser's appointment automatically ends when their appointing minister ceases to hold the ministerial office in relation to which the adviser was appointed to assist, or if earlier, immediately following a parliamentary general election.'
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