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Dominic Cummings received a pay raise of at least £ 40,000 for his role as the prime minister’s top adviser, new figures suggest.
Cummings, whose trip to Durham during the height of Covid-19’s first national shutdown sparked an outcry, was paid between £ 95,000 and £ 99,999 in 2019, but a new report reveals that his salary package increased to £ 140,000- £ 144,999 this year. .
The disclosure is included in the publication of a Cabinet Office report (pdf) detailing the total cost of £ 9.6 million, including salary, national insurance and pension contributions, for 102 special government advisers, to those referred to in Westminster as Spads, from April 2019 to March 2020.
Last month, it emerged that Cummings was leaving his 10th job, as was his ally, communications chief Lee Cain.
The Cabinet Office report says: “Lee Cain and Dominic Cummings are in the process of leaving their government positions and are not included in the above list. However, they are included in the December FTE numbers. Both individuals were on PB4 and were paying between £ 140,000 and £ 144,999. “
Meanwhile, newly appointed press secretary Allegra Stratton, who will be leading the televised Downing Street briefings next year, earns between £ 125,000 and £ 129,999, according to the report.
In response to Cummings’ raise, Labor Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: “Boris Johnson defended Dominic Cummings when he violated lockdown rules and then awarded him a £ 50,000 raise. However, he is freezing the wages of key workers and refusing to give our care workers a pay raise to live on.
“Cummings’ extraordinary bonus is an insult to key workers who are being denied the pay increase they deserve. It is another example of how under this government it is a rule for the Conservative Party and its friends and another for the rest of us. “
