Members of Parliament were given a 11-per cent pay increase, taking their annual salary to £74,000 back dated to May 2015. It comes as public sector workers are given a maximum 1-per cent pay increase per year in the budget and many salaries in the private sector are frozen or seeing below-inflation increases.
Thanks to a series of generous pay deals, since the mid-1970s the growth in MPs’ salaries has outstripped the rise in wages received by the average working family.
In 1977, MPs’ pay was set at £6,270, while the average household income in wages was £4,268 a year – meaning an MP’s pay was 1.46 times higher.
By 2011, MPs’ pay had risen to £65,738 a year, while the average household income in wages was £28,280 – putting MPs’ earnings 2.3 times higher.
It means MPs’ earnings have risen by 10.4-fold in the period, while an average family’s earnings have risen 6.6-fold.
