Sadiq Khan earns more than Prime Minister as salary rises to £160,000 with pay hikes for top aides

Sadiq Khan and his top aides have received a pay rise, with the Mayor and at least 13 of his City Hall staff earning more than the Prime Minister, it can be revealed.

Mr Khan’s salary has increased by just over £6,000 to £160,976 while at least eight of his nine deputy mayors, his chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, and three mayoral directors also received large pay hikes.

Rishi Sunak earned £139,477 in 2022-23, because he chose not claim the full ministerial salary.

It is thought the Prime Minister is currently entitled to more than £172,000, though it is not known how much he has chosen to receive - or whether this is more or less than Mr Khan now earns.

The average London salary is £44,370.

Details of the pay review emerged as Mr Khan announced that Shirley Rodrigues, the deputy mayor who was caught in controversy over the Ulez expansion after being accused of seeking to “quash dissent”, has decided to leave City Hall.

Mr Khan’s annual pay rise was not linked to him being re-elected for a third term last Saturday.

The Standard has learned that his salary increased by 3.88 per cent in December, taking it from £154,963 to £160,976.

This was not publicised at the time, nor was the mayoral salary figure that is published on the Greater London Authority (GLA) website updated.

Asked whether he was comfortable with the pay increase at a time of hardship for many Londoners, the mayor said on Friday: “My understanding is these are decisions recommended by independent bodies, and it affects all of the GLA.

“As always, we follow all of the independent recommendations.”

Mr Khan voluntarily took a 10 per cent pay cut for 11 months during the pandemic in recognition of the impact lockdown was having on City Hall’s finances.

Last month, a GLA-wide 4.5 per cent pay rise saw most deputy mayor salaries increase by more than £6,000, from £141,406 to £147,769.

A GLA spokesman said this rise was accepted by Unison on behalf of GLA staff after being offered by Mary Harpley, the GLA’s chief officer. Mr Khan approved the same increase for his deputy mayors.

A separate HR review found that Mr Khan’s three mayoral directors merited a salary equal to the deputy mayors.

This means his closest aide, Ali Picton, saw her salary increase last month by more than £23,000, from £124,631, to £147,769, as did fellow mayoral director Felicity Appleby.

His director of communications, Sarah Brown, saw her pay increase £12,000, from £135,751.

Mr Khan is reducing the number of deputy mayors from 10 to nine in his third term as the deputy mayor for fire post is being merged with planning and regeneration, with Jules Pipe in charge of all three areas.

Baroness Twycross, who was the deputy mayor for fire, is also standing down to focus on her work in the House of Lords.

Amy Lame, the “night tsar” who has faced criticism from the hospitality industry, now receives a salary of £132,846. Her last publicly-available salary figure was £116,925, but she has been entitled to two annual pay rises plus two increases in pay due to each additional year of service.

Ms Lame is not a direct “mayoral appointee” — the Mayor can make up to 13 “political” appointments — but is classed as a GLA member of staff.

Joanne McCartney, a Labour member of the Assembly, remains Mr Khan’s “statutory” deputy mayor — meaning that she takes over if he is incapacitated. Sophie Linden remains the deputy mayor for policing and crime.

David Bellamy, the mayor’s chief of staff, saw his pay increase from £149,213 to £155,927.

Richard Watts, the deputy chief of staff, who is responsible for the flagship free school meals policy, saw his pay rise from £145,310 to £151,848.

A search is under way for a deputy mayor for the environment to replace Ms Rodrigues, who is joining the C40 group of world cities committed to tackling climate change.

Last year she was revealed to have contacted academics on three occasions urging them to issue public statements defending the impact of the low emission zone and ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) on toxic air.

Mr Khan, who confirmed he will continue to chair the Transport for London board, said: “I am extremely grateful to Shirley for spearheading our world-leading initiatives to bring clean air to millions of Londoners.

“I look forward to working with my deputy mayors over the next four years to build the fairer, safer, greener London that all of London’s communities deserve.”

Sadiq Khan has announced a £14.5 million investment in schemes aimed at reducing violence in crime hotspots in his first major act since winning a fresh term at City Hall.

The Mayor was repeatedly challenged over his record on crime during the election and in a last-minute promise to voters, he said he would invest £7.8 million into the MyEnds programme run by his Violence Reduction Unit.

On Friday he announced a £6.7 million investment in partnerships between councils and community groups working to tackle violence.