EXCL Cabinet minister sacked after eight weeks gets pay-off worth three months' salary
2 min read
A former Cabinet minister who was sacked after just eight weeks in the job is to receive a pay-off worth three months' salary, PoliticsHome can reveal.
Mel Stride was drafted in as Leader of the Commons in late May after Andrea Leadsom resigned in protest over Theresa May’s approach to Brexit.
But he was one of a dozen Cabinet members brutally culled by Boris Johnson after he took over as Prime Minister in July and replaced by arch-Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg.
It has now emerged that Mr Stride will pocket nearly £8,000 in addition to the two months' wages he earned while doing the job.
Labour has now demanded that he repay the cash.
Under the 1991 Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act, ministers under the age of 65 are entitled to three months of their ministerial salary when they are forced out of office.
The current salary for Leader of the House of Commons is £31,680 – on top of their £79,468 pay as an MP – putting Mr Stride in line for a so-called 'golden goodbye' of £7,920.
The Central Devon MP, who was appointed as a junior Treasury minister by David Cameron in 2015, would only have received £5,593 had it not been for his promotion.
Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jo Platt, told PoliticsHome: "It is beyond belief that ex-Ministers are accepting huge payoffs after leaving a Government that inflicted cruel austerity on the poorest in society.
“For any Tory MP to accept thousands of pounds as a leaving gift proves just how out of touch they are.
“It is an outrage that an ex-cabinet member has taken a severance package of three months’ pay after serving in cabinet for such a short period of time. Mel Stride should pay back every penny.”
It comes after it was revealed that newly-appointed Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, is entitled to a payment of £16,876 despite being sacked as Defence Secretary in May over a leaking row.
Mr Stride’s office did not wish to comment.
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