Keir Starmers top aide Sue Gray is paid more than the Prime Minister with £170,000 salary as insiders say Labour power player considers herself to be the Deputy Prime Minister

Sir Keir Starmers top aide Sue Gray is paid more than the Prime Minister, it was revealed today amid more signs of a fight for power in No10.

In the latest leak from inside Downing Street sources said that Ms Gray, a former civil servant, was being paid £170,000 as chief of staff, compared to the £166,786 earned by Sir Keir.

Her Tory predecessor Liam Smith-Booth - now Lord Smith-Booth - was paid between £140,000 and £145,000. 

In an astonishing briefing to the BBC they also accused Ms Gray of acting increasingly grand and acting as the only conduit for access to the PM.

[She] considers herself to be the Deputy Prime Minister, hence the salary and no other voice for the Prime Minister to hear as everything gets run through Sue, they told the broadcaster.

Ms Gray, a former publican whose son is a Labour MP, has been the subject of repeated briefings about her hold on power within No10.

In the latest leak from inside Downing Street sources said that Ms Gray, a former civil servant, was being paid £170,000 as chief of staff, compared to the £166,000 earned by Sir Keir.

In an astonishing briefing to the BBC they also accused Ms Gray of acting increasingly grand and acting as the only conduit for access to the PM.

She accompanied the PM on recent trips to Washington and Rome in an indication of how central she is to his administration. 

It has also emerged she will attend his weekly national security council audience with the heads of MI6, MI5, GCHQ, the joint intelligence committee and Armed Forces.

The Cabinet Office did not deny Ms Gray earned more than the PM but said she had no power to set her own salary. 

Sir Keir attempted to defend Ms Gray at the weekend by saying that most of the stories about her are wildly wrong following reports of rifts in No10. 

A Cabinet Office spokesman told the BBC: It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay.

Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials not political appointees. As set out publicly, special advisers cannot authorise expenditure of public funds or have responsibility for budgets.