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Boris Johnson’s press secretary has argued that the prime minister’s former senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, got a pay raise of at least £ 40,000 before leaving Downing Street.
Allegra Stratton said the increase brought her salary to the “right level” for the position she held at the time.
It was revealed in an annual report on the pay of special advisers to the government. released Tuesday that Mr. Cummings between £ 140,000 and £ 144,999 a year was paid.
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What does Cummings’ departure mean for the prime minister?
This placed him among the top earners at No. 10 before his departure last month, which followed a bitter power struggle between Mr johnsonsenior staff.
And it also showed Cummings received a pay raise in the past 12 months, with last year’s report on Special Adviser pay revealed that he previously had a salary of between £ 95,000 and £ 99,999.
“This was a matter for the Cabinet Office special adviser pay committee, that’s where the decisions are made,” Ms. Stratton said.
“It’s the case that Dominic Cummings’ revised salary reflected the fact that until his departure he was one of the most important special advisers, if not the most important.
And the new salary he received was in line with the salary that chiefs of staff and people of that rank receive.
“Not that his new salary has exceeded what you would expect from the type of role he was playing.
“It’s the right salary level for the role Dominic Cummings played.”
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Cummings leaves the role with immediate effect
Labor Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said the “additional bonus” was an “insult to key workers who were denied the pay raise they deserve.”
He added: “It is another example of how under this government it is one rule for the Conservative Party and its friends and another for the rest of us.”
The pay increase came after Cummings helped the prime minister win an 80-seat majority in last year’s general election.
But his position at No. 10 came under scrutiny after he was accused of breaking coronavirus he rules by traveling from London to the North East at the height of the first blockade of England.
Mr Cummings explained an additional trip to Barnard Castle saying that he needed to test his eyesight before driving back to London.
Johnson was by his senior assistant’s side at the time, despite being pressured to fire him.
Cummings dropped No. 10 in November after disagreements among the top Downing Street political candidates.
His departure came shortly after that of his close ally Lee Cain, the prime minister’s former communications director.
In a footnote to this year’s annual report on the compensation of special advisers, Cain and Cummings were said to be “in the process of leaving their government jobs,” though neither has been seen at No. 10 since last month.
Mr Cain also had a salary between £ 140,000 and £ 144,999, which is the same level as the Prime Minister’s Acting Chief of Staff, Sir Edward Lister, and the man who will take over as Chief of Staff from 1 January, Dan Rosenfield.
Stratton, a former journalist, is paid between £ 125,000 and £ 129,999, according to the annual report.
This is the same as the UK’s lead negotiator for Brexit trade negotiations, Lord Frost.
