Transparency data

Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, July 2022 (HTML)

Published 15 July 2022

Special Advisers

Special advisers are a critical part of the team supporting Ministers. They add a political dimension to the advice and assistance available to Ministers while reinforcing the political impartiality of the permanent Civil Service by distinguishing the source of political advice and support.

Special advisers should be fully integrated into the functioning of government. They are part of the team working closely alongside civil servants to deliver Ministers’ priorities. They can help Ministers on matters where the work of government and the work of the government party overlap and where it would be inappropriate for permanent civil servants to become involved. They are appointed to serve the Prime Minister and the Government as a whole, not just their appointing Minister.

In accordance with section 16 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, the Cabinet Office publishes an annual report containing the number and costs of special advisers. This information is presented below and can be read alongside the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2021-2022, which shall be published in due course.

The Cabinet Office also routinely publishes the names of all special advisers along with information on salaries. In accordance with the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance on publishing personal data, the salaries of those special advisers earning equivalent to senior civil servants (£70,000 or more) are given in bands of £5,000.

Special adviser pay bands are also published.

Number of Special Advisers

As at 31 March 2022, there were 126 (124.7 full-time equivalent) special advisers working across the whole of Government. The total Civil Service had 511,100 (479,040 full-time equivalent) civil servants as at March 20221.^{[footnote 1]}

Cost of Special Advisers

The special adviser pay bill for the financial year 1 April 2021-31 March 2022 was £12.7 million. This includes £99,000 paid in severance payments to special advisers in this period. Special advisers represent 0.03 per cent of the Civil Service workforce (full time equivalent)^{[footnote 2]}.

A special adviser’s appointment automatically ends when their appointing Minister ceases to hold the ministerial office in relation to which the adviser was appointed to assist, or if earlier, immediately following a parliamentary general election. In accordance with clause 14 of the

Model Contract for Special Advisers, a special adviser is entitled to receive a severance payment in these circumstances. Special advisers who are subsequently reappointed repay their severance as laid out in the Model Contract for Special Advisers.

In line with the public sector, special advisers did not receive a cost of living increase as pay was subject to a one-year freeze in 2020-21. Any changes to individual special advisers’ pay reflected a change in role or responsibility.

The relative change in the costs of special advisers compared to 2020-21 reflects the Cabinet Reshuffles which took place in September 2021 and February 2022, increasing the overall pay bill and severance costs from 2020-21.

	1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022	1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021
Salary Costs	£9.0m	£8.6m
National Insurance Contributions	£1.1m	£1.0m
Pension Contributions	£2.5m	£2.3m
Severance Costs	£0.099m	£0.024m
Total Pay Costs	£12.7m	£11.9m

Short Money

In 2021-2022, opposition parties have been allocated £9.2 million of Short Money^{[footnote 3]} and £1.1 million of Cranborne Money^{[footnote 4]}, and up to £2 million was available to eligible parties in Policy Development Grant, of which £1.55m was allocated to seven parties in opposition^{[footnote 5]}. Returns on Short Money spending on political staff are published on parliament.uk^{[footnote 6]}.

Special Adviser Pay Policy

The Cabinet Office is responsible for Special Adviser Pay Policy. There are four pay bands for special advisers as set out below.

PB1 Junior Special Adviser - £40,500 - £53,000 PB2 Special Adviser - £57,000 - £84,000

PB3 Senior Special Adviser - £73,000 - £102,000

PB4 Special Adviser Leadership - £102,000 - £145,000

Each role is individually assessed and assigned a band according to the level and scope of responsibility required. Whilst the default is for new appointees to be paid salaries at the base of the pay band, a higher starting salary within the relevant band may be awarded to reflect the skill-set and expertise that an individual brings to the role.

Thorough benchmarking exercises are regularly carried out across the cohort to ensure the pay policy is being applied fairly and consistently.

Special Advisers’ Declarations of Interest

As with all civil servants, special advisers ensure that no conflict arises, or could be perceived to arise, between their public duties and their private interests, financial or otherwise.

Special advisers declare interests to their Permanent Secretary in the appointing department for consideration, in line with the Declaration of Interests policy. The personal information which special advisers disclose to the Permanent Secretary is treated in confidence. All special advisers have submitted a completed declaration of interests form, including nil returns in instances where there was no actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest.

Where relevant to the role, and to help manage a perception of conflict or to explain how a conflict is being managed, interests will be published on an annual basis in, or alongside, the relevant departmental Annual Report and Accounts. This provides a balance between transparency and privacy.

The declared interests of all those employed in the period 1 April 2021 - 31 March 2022 have been considered for publication, including those who have since left their Department.

List of Special Advisers

This list reflects the special advisers in post as of 30 June 2022, working across the whole of government.

Appointing Minister

The Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Union and Minister for the Civil Service - The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Samantha Cohen	4	£140,000-£144,999
Simone Finn	4	£125,000-£129,999
Ben Gascoigne	4	£125,000-£129,999
Guto Harri	4	£140,000-£144,999
Alex Hickman	4	£110,000-£114,999
Jack Airey	3	£70,000-£74,999
Rosie Bate-Williams	3	£90,000-£94,999
John Bew	3	£95,000-£99,999
Leonora Campbell	3	£70,000-£74,999
Rory Geoghegan	3	£80,000-£84,999
Andrew Gilligan	3	£95,000-£99,999
Logan Graham	3	£80,000-£84,999
Rory Gribbell	3	£70,000-£74,999
Katharine Howell	3	£85,000-£89,999
Stephanie Lis	3	£75,000-£79,999
Mark McInnes	3	£100,000-£104,999
Caroline Newton	3	£90,000-£94,999
Andrew Parsons[footnote 7]	3	£100,000-£104,999
James Phillips	3	£80,000-£84,999
Jonny Piper	3	£70,000-£74,999
Meg Powell-Chandler	3	£100,000-£104,999
Jennifer Powers	3	£80,000-£84,999
Jean-Andre Prager	3	£70,000-£74,999
Chloe Sarfaty[footnote 8]	3	£75,000-£79,999
Rajiv Shah	3	£70,000-£74,999
Myles Stacey	3	£70,000-£74,999
Will Warr	3	£80,000-£84,999
Sheridan Westlake	3	£95,000-£99,999
Shelley Williams-Walker	3	£90,000-£94,999
Joel Winton	3	£90,000-£94,999
Hugh Bennett[footnote 9]	2
Danielle Dove	2
Daniel El-Gamry	2
Christopher James	2
Skandar Keynes	2
Emily Maister	2
Charlotte Owen[footnote 10]	2
Sophia True	2
Chloe Westley	2
Sonia Zvedeniuk	2
Alex King	1
Oscar Reddrop	1
Catherine Rostron	1

Appointing Minister

Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice – The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Beth Armstrong	3	£80,000-£84,999
Sally Rushton	2
Beatrice Timpson	2
Jack Worlidge	1

Appointing Minister

Chancellor of the Exchequer –The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Liam Booth-Smith	4	£115,000-£119,999
Douglas McNeill	3	£95,000-£99,999
Eleanor Shawcross	3	£95,000-£99,999
Nerissa Chesterfield	2
Cass Horowitz	2
James Nation	2
Rupert Yorke	2	£70,000-£74,999
Lisa Lovering	1

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, First Secretary of State – The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Adam Jones	3	£80,000-£84,999
Hugh Bennett	2
Jamie Hope	2
Sophie Jarvis	2	£70,000-£74,999
Chris Jenkins[footnote 11]	2	£70,000-£74,999
Sarah Ludlow	2
Reuben Solomon	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for the Home Department – The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Hannah Guerin	3	£80,000-£84,999
Christopher Howarth	2	£70,000-£74,999
Harry Methley	2
Michael Stott	2
Hebe Trotter	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Defence – The Rt Hon Ben Wallace MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Peter Quentin	2	£80,000-£84,999
Edwina Thomas	2
Daisy Peck	1

Appointing Minister

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Chief of Staff – The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
David Canzini	4	£140,000-£144,999
Simon Burton	3	£80,000-£84,999
Emma Dean	3	£80,000-£84,999
Amy Milner	3	£70,000-£74,999
Allan Nixon	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Josh Grimstone	3	£80,000-£84,999
Andrew Hood	3	£100,000-£104,999
Henry Newman	3	£100,000-£104,999
Keelan Carr	2	£75,000-£79,999
Charles Rowley	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – The Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Peter Backhouse	2
Sam Coates	2	£80,000-£84,999
James Hedgeland	2
Adam Memon	2
Damon Poole	2
Alice Hopkin	1

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Cameron Brown	2
Celia McSwaine	2
Marcus Natale	2

Appointing Minister

COP26 President, Minister of State – The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Jessica Prestidge	2
Eamonn Ives	1

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade – The Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Will Holloway	2	£70,000-£74,999
Rhiannon Padley	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – The Rt Hon Thérèse Coffey MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Caroline Elsom	2
Tim Sculthorpe	2
Ed Winfield	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Education – The Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Thomas Kennedy	2
Mark Lehain	2	£70,000-£74,999
James Price	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – The Rt Hon George Eustice MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Richard Coates	2
Emma Pryor	2
Megan Trethewey	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Transport – The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
James Harries	2
Ryan Hopkins	2
Neil Tweedie	2	£75,000-£79,999
Jessica Webb	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland – The Rt Hon Brandon Lewis CBE MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Isabel Bruce	2
Oliver Legard	2
Johnny Aslet	1
David Sforza	1

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Scotland - The Rt Hon Alister Jack MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
John Cooper	2
Magnus Gardham	2	£70,000-£74,999
Geoff Mawdsley	2	£70,000-£74,999
Tom Peterkin	2

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Wales – The Rt Hon Simon Hart MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Jack Sellers	2
Olivia Williams	1

Appointing Minister

Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Privy Seal – The Rt Hon Baroness Evans of Bowes Park

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Annabelle Eyre	3	£80,000-£84,999
James Antell	1
Hannah Ellis	1

Appointing Minister

Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – The Rt Hon Nadine Dorries MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Robert Oxley	3	£85,000-£89,999
William Joce	2
Steph Schwarz	2

Appointing Minister

Minister of State - The Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Radomir Tylecote	2
Fred De Fossard	1

Appointing Minister

Minister for the Cabinet Office - The Rt Hon Michael Ellis QC MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Corey Edwards	2

Appointing Minister

Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip) – The Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Charlotte Owen	2
Harriet Smith	2
Louis Flood	1
Aoife Forbes	1

Appointing Minister

Chief Secretary to the Treasury – The Rt Hon Simon Clarke MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Olivia Oates	2	£70,000-£74,999

Appointing Minister

Lord President of the Council, Leader of the House of Commons – The Rt Hon Mark Spencer MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Sophie Bolsover	2
Tom Irven	2

Appointing Minister

Attorney General – The Rt Hon Suella Braverman QC MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Chris Jenkins	2	£70,000-£74,999
Emily Law	1
David Scullion	1

Appointing Minister

Minister of State for Crime and Policing for the Home Office – The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Robyn Staveley	2

Appointing Minister

Minister of State for Higher and Further Education for the Department for Education – The Rt Hon Michelle Donelan MP

Special Adviser	Pay Band	Salary Band (if £70,000 or above)
Iain Mansfield	2	£75,000-£79,999

1. Information taken from Public Sector Employment Survey March 2022, Office for National Statistics. ↩

2. Based on information taken from Public Sector Employment Survey March 2022, Office for National Statistics. ↩

3. Parliament - Research briefings ↩

4. Financial assistance for opposition parties ↩

5. Public funding political parties ↩

6. Financial assistance to opposition parties ↩

7. Works part time - the salary band shown represents the full time equivalent, the actual salary is prorated. ↩

8. Works part time - the salary band shown represents the full time equivalent, the actual salary is prorated. ↩

9. Works 50% time for the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP and 50% time for the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP and so therefore appears in this list under both Ministers. ↩

10. Works 50% time for the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP and 50% time for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip), the Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP and so therefore appears in this list under both Ministers. ↩

11. Works 50% time for the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, the Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP and 50% time for the Attorney General, the Rt Hon Suella Braverman QC MP and so therefore appears in this list under both Ministers. ↩