More than 300 council workers paid more than PM last year, report finds

Some 320 council workers across the UK received more than Sir Keir Starmer’s £172,153 official salary over the course of the 2024-25 financial year, according to the Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) annual Town Hall Rich List report.

The Tufton Street-based pressure group claimed that the number of local authority employees earning more than Sir Keir had grown by a third since the previous year.

Some 4,733 council employees across Britain and Northern Ireland are now being paid more than £100,000 across the UK, the TPA’s annual report said.

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This is 827 more than the previous year’s analysis, according to the group, and represents the highest level since the TPA began keeping records in 2007.

Of this group, 1,255 earned at least £150,000 in the last year, a rise of more than 163 people from the previous data.

The highest-paid council employee in the country was based at Staffordshire Council, according to the TPA report.

They were paid £457,500 but neither their name or job title was provided, nor the breakdown of how their total pay was awarded.`

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers are caught in a pincer movement with a record-breaking tax burden on one side and a bloated public sector feathering its nest on the other.

“Our latest Town Hall Rich List exposes a surging class of council bosses enjoying six-figure packages, even as they plead poverty, slash frontline services, and hike council tax bills far beyond inflation.

“Residents can see exactly how many local bureaucrats are receiving plush packages and judge for themselves whether they’re getting value for money.”