Downing Street has published the 2023/24 tax returns for Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves, shining a light on the finances of Britain’s three most powerful politicians. All three top Cabinet Ministers had their accountants sign off on the previous tax year’s filings two days ago, before being published by No. 10 this afternoon.
The publication reveals precisely how much each politician earned in the tax year ending 5 April 2024, and how much tax they paid on their earnings. Keir Starmer brought in the most, thanks to the extra cash given by taxpayers to the leader of the opposition. Sir Keir’s final year before becoming Prime Minister saw him rake in £152,255, with £146,583 of that coming from his role as leader of the opposition.
His income breaks down as £81,390 in his role as MP for St Pancras, with an additional £49,193 for his official opposition role.
In addition he received £16,000, listed as “other benefits”, which relate to tax paid on the clothes and glasses donations that sparked the Labour freebies row last October.
Sir Keir also received a small supplementary income of £498 from book royalties, and £5,174 from UK bank interest on his savings.
In total the then-Labour leader paid £54,718 in income tax.
By contrast Rachel Reeves took home £91,758 in the tax year, and paid just £24,215 in income tax – about half that paid to the Treasury by her boss.
Ms Reeves was paid a much smaller amount for her role as Shadow Chancellor, of £79,322.
However she made up for this by raking in £12,372 in income relating to book royalty, an advance on the book, and audiobook fees.
She made just £64 in UK bank interest.
Angela Rayner, the Labour Party deputy leader, had no outside earnings, and took home £85,205 from her job as the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, with £2,367 listed as “other”, again relating to tax being paid on clothes donations.
The news comes just three months after Ms Reeves refused to say she would continue publishing her personal tax returns now she’s Chancellor of the Exchequer.
She claimed: “Chancellors and prime ministers haven’t published their tax returns in the past, and I don’t have any plans to do so.”
However both Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt published their tax returns while in No. 11 Downing Street.
