Sir Sadiq Khan’s salary has increased to more than £170,000 – which appears to have made him the best-paid politician in the country.
The London mayor has accepted a £5,281 pay rise – meaning his annual salary has increased from £165,001 to £170,282, The Standard can reveal.
This is thought to be almost £1,000 higher than the Prime Minister’s current salary.
According to the House of Commons Library, Sir Keir Starmer is entitled to £93,904 as an MP and accepts £75,440 as a ministerial salary – making a total of £169,344.
However, Sir Keir would earn more than the mayor if he claimed his full ministerial allowance of £80,807.
The increase in the mayor’s salary, of 3.2 per cent, is linked to the local government settlement – the amount awarded to town hall staff across the country – and follows recommendations from an independent panel.
A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said: “Following an independent review last year, the Greater London Authority has a uniform process in place to determine annual salary increases for the Mayor and London Assembly members for the duration of this term.
“This ensures that any potential pay increases are determined in an impartial, fair and simple way, linked to the local government pay settlement. This is independent of the Mayor and the GLA and in line with long-standing practice.
“Following the conclusion of this year’s agreement, the Mayor and Assembly Members have received the local government 3.2 per cent salary increase.
“The number of City Hall staff has grown to reflect the significant increase in the Mayor’s powers and responsibilities since Sadiq was first elected.
“New posts have been created to ensure the Mayor can best respond to emergencies, deliver record devolved skills funding, improve health and care for Londoners and continue to build a fairer, safer and greener London for everyone.”
When The Standard revealed two months ago that Sir Sadiq’s deputy mayors and top aides had received annual increases, the mayor himself had yet to decide whether to accept a pay rise.
The new salary was quietly published on the Greater London Authority website, as part of the mayor’s official biography and job specification.
It comes as the number of staff working at City Hall has increased by nine per cent in the last year to a record 1,615 people, including 90 agency staff.
This includes 241 people who work in “strategy and communications”, 357 in “good growth” and 254 in “housing and land”.
As of March 31, the average City Hall salary was £62,537 but 238 people earned £80,000 or more – of which 68 earned £100,000 or more.
Some 50 people work in the mayor’s office – where two-thirds of aides earn at least £80,000 and about 20 people take home six-figure salaries.
The total GLA headcount has increased by 129 since March 2024.
The total staffing figure includes 101 people who work for the London Assembly, the cross-party body that scrutinises the mayor.
Emma Best, deputy leader of the City Hall Conservatives, said many Londoners would be infuriated to learn of the increase in City Hall staff at a time the number of police stations open to the public is being slashed.
She said: “The concept of value for money is alien in Khan’s City Hall as he continues his out-of-control expansion.
“We have continued to argue for a reduced headcount at the GLA to save millions that could be invested into frontline services; these figures today remind us exactly why we argue for this and why London so desperately needs change."
The 241 who work in strategy and communications includes staff who deliver major events, such as the New Year’s Eve fireworks, and mayoral campaigns.
In addition, the directorate includes the London Resilience Unit, which ensures that the GLA can respond to emerging events or emergencies. The unit was until 2024 part of the London Fire Brigade.
According to annual workforce data presented to the London Assembly, the number of posts across the GLA has increased to 1,687, though only 1,525 were occupied.
The headcount has increased from about 1,100 just before the pandemic.
One in six GLA staff earn £80,000 or more.
London Assembly members now earn a basic salary of £66,390. The chair of the 25-member assembly, currently Labour’s Len Duvall, receives £79,617.
The majority of GLA staff have to work off-site, including at the London Fire Brigade headquarters in Southwark, or at home, because of a lack of space at the “new” City Hall in the Royal Docks.
Staff on salaries of £90,000 or more are typically members of the “senior leadership team”, including executive directors, assistant directors and heads of service.
Transport for London, which is part of the mayor’s wider empire, attracted widespread criticism earlier this year when The Standard revealed that 2,200 staff earned £100,000 or more.
Some 11 per cent of staff – 155 people - left City Hall last year, the majority voluntarily. The highest turnover rate, of 19 per cent, was in the mayor’s office.
Since Sir Sadiq was first elected in 2016, the responsibilities of the mayor have grown in relation to housing, skills and the health of Londoners.
A total of 137 “recognition payments” – or bonuses – of up to £1,500 were made to staff in the last year, to “recognise exceptional effort or performance that goes above or beyond an individual’s normal role”. Any City Hall staffer can nominate a colleague for a recognition payment.
In addition, 314 staff received either an honorarium or acting-up allowance payments.
When Sir Sadiq moved City Hall to the Royal Docks in 2022, a scheme was introduced to find jobs within the GLA for Newham residents.
In 2023, 632 Newham residents applied for a job but only 24 were successful. Last year there were 699 applicants, of which eight got a job.
