“I am in control,” says Keir Starmer after Sue Gray’s salary leaks

Health Minister Wes Streeting told the BBC on Wednesday: “We are very lucky to have Sue.”

Ms Gray's appointment to Sir Keir's team last year was controversial. Gray was a former senior civil servant whose report on Downing Street Covid lockdown parties helped bring about the downfall of then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In recent weeks she has been the subject of a series of reports of growing acrimony within the new government, also involving Ms Gray, Labour's director of political strategy Morgan McSweeney and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case.

At the weekend, Sir Keir played down these stories, saying “most of them are completely false”.

The Conservatives have asked whether the Prime Minister personally signed off on Ms Gray's new salary and an increase in the cap on the highest pay grade.

They also asked whether there was still a special remuneration committee for consultants and whether Ms Gray was a member. They also wanted to know what role she played in setting her own salary and changing salary levels.

Chris Philp, leader of the shadow parliamentary group in the House of Commons, told the BBC: “The Prime Minister's Chief of Staff is getting a huge pay rise. At the same time, the Labour government is cutting heating allowances for pensioners who earn just half the minimum wage.

“It's about pay rises for Labour mates and cuts for struggling pensioners.”

Guto Harri, former communications director at Downing Street under Boris Johnson, told BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley that being paid more than the boss at 10 Downing Street was “basically a no-go”.

“If you take a job in the heart of 10 Downing Street, no matter what you are worth, no matter what you earned before, it does not paint a good picture to ask for more than the post of Prime Minister,” he said.