No pay rise for MPs in 2021

Tony Lloyd, MP for Rochdale and Chris Clarkson, MP for Heywood & Middleton

Members of Parliament will not be getting a pay rise next year, the parliamentary pay regulator has said.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) said increasing MPs’ salaries would be “inconsistent” with the financial hardship faced by their constituents this year during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, IPSA said MPs could receive a pay increase of £3,000 for the next financial year, taking their salaries to £85,291 – despite wage freezes for millions of public sector workers.

However, IPSA has since changed its mind and confirmed that MPs' pay will remain unchanged for the next financial year.

IPSA’s Interim Chair Richard Lloyd said: "The unprecedented impact of the Covid pandemic has had an unexpected, but different, effect on public and private sector earnings. It is clear that applying the forthcoming official statistic for public sector earnings growth would result in a salary increase for MPs that would be inconsistent with the wider economic data and would not reflect the reality that many constituents are facing this year.

"The IPSA Board has therefore decided that the salary for Members of Parliament will remain unchanged for the financial year 2021/22."

Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd said: "I think the public would have been astonished if MPs were given a pay rise this year at a time which has been so difficult for so many in Britain."

Chris Clarkson has also been approached for comment.