The Phones4U founder and former Conservative donor John Caudwell said the Prime Minister should be paid a salary that ‘matches the responsibility that comes with the job’
A billionaire former Tory donor has suggested Keir Starmer should be paid £300,000 for the role of Prime Minister.
The Phones4U founder John Caudwell said the country’s leader should be paid a salary that “matches the responsibility that comes with the job”. Mr Starmer is paid around £167,000 for his role as Prime Minister and being an MP.
His salary came under the spotlight earlier this month when it was leaked his recently ousted chief-of-staff Sue Gray was paid slightly more – on £170,000.
The Phones4U tycoon told PA: “Prime Ministers are expected to represent Britain on the world stage and so they should receive a salary that matches the responsibility that comes with the job. Paying them £300,000 sounds about right to me.”
He also called for a reform to the rules governing financial interests and gifts amid a row over freebies accepted by senior ministers, including Mr Starmer. He said: “The current system is completely wrong and requires a total overhaul so that there is much greater clarity and transparency.”
He added: “I would go a step further and set in stone legally enforceable rules for the Prime Minister and ministers preventing them from engaging in any paid roles outside of their Government jobs.
“We can’t allow the people who govern the country to be distracted from the important work they have been elected to do for the people of Britain. Now more than ever we need 100% focus on the job.
“What we need to do is to pay a wage that matches the level of responsibility. We know there is a lucrative afterlife, especially for the Prime Minister, but let’s pay them fairly now.”
Mr Caudwell, who donated £500,000 to the Conservatives ahead of the 2019 election, switched his support to Labour at the last general election. Speaking in June he described ex-PM Rishi Sunak as an “absolute dud” and told the BBC he was voting Labour for the first time in his life.
“The Labour Party in my estimation, as much as I disagree with some of the policies, are absolutely the very best for Britain going forward,” he said.
