Starmer’s chief of staff is top paid special adviser

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff is the highest paid special adviser, government figures show.

Morgan McSweeney is paid between £155,000 and £159,999, the Cabinet Office said in a report.

Nine senior government staffers, known as spads, are in the next highest band and are paid between £145,000 and £149,999.

National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, No 10’s director of communications Steph Driver, and John Van Reenan, the chancellor’s top economic adviser, are among those in the second-highest pay bracket.

Jill Cuthbertson, Sir Keir’s deputy chief of staff, the director of No 10’s policy unit Stuart Ingham, and Liz Lloyd, Starmer’s director of policy delivery and innovation, also earn between £145,000 and £149,999.

Last year, the…