My Pay: Mar - Dec

David Taylor
Jan 10
4 min read

I have recently published the latest attendance figures for councillors, where I looked at how many meetings they have actually been to and, very roughly, what that would translate into pay wise.

We came to a figure of around £378 an hour, based only on meeting attendance, for the average councillor.

It's now time to take a look at my own record and pay, as the only UK politician to publish his payslips in full. This latest batch of payslips contains 9 months worth, as I got a little behind.

Let's take a look at how much I cost Havering taxpayers, then you can decide if I'm worth it.

Before you read on...

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The Headline Figures

During this 9 month period, before taxes, Havering Council paid me £13,434.03 of taxpayer's money. That's £1492.67 a month.

I paid £5,373.60 in income tax and a further £320.13 in National Insurance. This makes my total deductions £5,693.73. Taking this away from teh £13,434.03 that I received £7,740.30 over the last 9 months. A monthly average of £860.03.

Hidden Costs

There are some hidden figures in all of this, an extra cost to the taxpayer that isn't displayed publicly on the council website. Employer contributions.

Some councillors will make a big fuss of telling you that they don't get a 'salary', they get an 'allowance'. They will say that this is because they are not 'employees'. And, OK, maybe they want to play silly word games. But, the taxman makes Havering Council pay Employer NI contributions on Councillor's pay / allowance. Every employer has to do this for every employee. During this 9 month period of Apri 2025 to December 2025, Havering Council had to pay £1452.15 of Employer NI, on my pay.

This means that when the council publish their figures of a councillor's allowance they are not telling you what we actually cost taxpayers. Remember, Havering council gets money by taking it from your pocket.

The total cost of me, to taxpayers, was therefore £14,868.18 (over the last 9 months).

Attendance

During the period April 2025 to December 2025, I was expected at a total of 15 meetings. From those 15, I attended all 15. So, I've missed 0 and have an attendance record of 100%. Attending 15 meetings represents that I sit on a number of committees. I attend Audit, the Overview and Scrutiny Board, and am Chairman of the Places Committee.

Not all councillors enjoy committees, but I do. I think it is important to not just be out and about in the public, but also to be busy scrutinising budgets and decisions in the Town Hall.

Every councillor does the role differently, some spending more time doings things like litter picks, whilst others spend more time in the Town Hall.

Both approaches are needed.

Hours worked

I allocated two hours a day to my role as a councillor, fitting it in around my day job. This time can be spent handling emails, on the phone to residents or council staff, or perhaps meeting a local business to support them with a problem they have.

Between April 2025 and December 2025, I worked 394 hours as a councillor. On top of this, I attended 15 meetings. Giving a meeting an average of 2 hours in length (many are longer), this means I have spent a further 30 hours in meetings.

In total, I have put in around 424 hours in my role as a councillor during the period April 2025 to December 2025.

My Pay

A councillor's basic pay is £10,412 per year. Over the 9 month period from April 2025 to December 2025, this means my basic pay (before taxes etc.) was £7,809.00.

However, I am one of the few councillors who also receives an extra salary, because I am a Committee Chairman. During this same period, I was paid a further £5,625.03.

This means that, between April 2025 and December 2025, I was paid (by you the taxpayers) £13,434.03 before taxes.

From that £13,434.03, I paid £5,693.73 in Income Tax and National Insurance.

This means I took home £7,740.30 over this 9 month period. I have not claimed a penny in expenses and I do not get a pension as a councillor.

As I worked around 424 hours as a councillor during this period, and was paid £13,434.03, my pre tax pay was about £31.68 per hour. After taxes, the pay was around £18.26 an hour.

Conclusion

£31.68 an hour is not a small amount of pay, especially for a job that is supposed to be focused on public service above all. That money comes from my residents and their council taxes and so I have to earn it.

No politician should be afraid to show people how much they are paid, as the pay comes from taxes. No politician should be afraid of showing people the hours they put in, unless they are hiding something.

This role is an immense privilege and I'm lucky to be able to do it. I'm also very blessed that I have a good day job, as I could not survive on a councillor's salary alone (around £10k–£11k a year before tax). There is a reason that a lot of Havering's councillors are either retired or people who've made a few bob already, because it's hard pinning down two jobs.

I am proud of my work as a councillor and so I have no shame in sharing what I am paid. I make this available so that you can judge for yourself and hold me to account.

Paylips: