Dominic Cummings received £40,000 pay rise before leaving Downing Street

15 December 2020, 17:45

Boris Johnson's former chief advisor Dominic Cummings received a pay rise of at least £40,000 before leaving 10 Downing Street, government documents have shown.

The annual report on government special advisers' pay revealed that the Mr Cummings was paid between £140,000 and £144,999 a year.

This put the former vote leave chief among the top Downing Street earners before his departure last month.

It also showed that Mr Cummings received a pay rise in the 12 months before his departure.

Last year's report on special advisers' pay revealed that he was previously on a salary of between £95,000 and £99,999.

Mr Cummings' pay rise came after he helped Boris Johnson clinch victory at last December's general election.

Dominic Cummings should have been more apologetic

However, Mr Cummings came under fire during the first lockdown after he was accused of breaching coronavirus rules by travelling from London to Durham during the travel ban.

He later held a press conference to defend himself, saying he needed relatives to care for his son and that a further trip to Barnard Castle was necessary as he to test his eyesight before driving back to London.

At the time, Boris Johnson gave his full backing to Mr Cummings but, in November, the political heavyweight left Number 10 following a period of high tensions between Downing Street's top political appointees.

Mr Cummings' exit was just days after that of his close ally Lee Cain, the prime minister's former director of communications.

Mr Cain was also on a salary of between £140,000 and £144,999, the report revealed.

This is the same level as the prime minister's acting chief of staff, Sir Edward Lister, and Dan Rosenfield, who will take on the chief of staff role from 1 January.

The announcement has been met with backlash from prominent Labour figures.

Deputy leader Angela Rayner said in a series of tweets: "Boris Johnson defended Dominic Cummings when he broke lockdown rules - then awarded him a £50,000 pay rise.

"Yet he's freezing pay for key workers and refusing to give our care workers a pay rise to the living wage."Cummings's bumper bonus is an insult to key workers denied the pay rise they deserve.

"It's another example of how under this government it is one rule for the Tory party and their friends and another for the rest of us."

Shadow Lord Chancellor and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice David Lammy said: Let me get this straight.

"Dominic Cummings broke the lockdown laws he helped create.

"Then not only did Boris Johnson keep him as his top advisor, but he also gave him a £50,000 pay rise.

"This government's cronyism is quickly turning the country into a Banana Republic."