Independent councillor says 'it's hard to make ends meet' as boss rakes in £200k
Cllr Dulcie Tudor said there is a "stark difference" between what councillors receive and the earnings of top officials.
Elected officials are warning of a stark pay divide with council staff, as one Independent councillor admitting she struggles while the chief executive earns more than £200,000. An Independent councillor has said it is “hard to make ends meet” in the role, pointing to what she describes as a widening gap between elected members’ allowances and the salaries paid to senior officers.
Cllr Dulcie Tudor, who represents Chacewater and Threemilestone on Cornwall Council, said there is a “stark difference” between what councillors receive and the earnings of top officials. Her comments followed the revelation that 25 senior officers at the authority were paid more than £100,000 in the 2024/25 financial year. The council’s chief executive, Kate Kennally, earned more than £200,000 — exceeding the salary of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Read more: 'We sold our £3million Omaze house just eight weeks after winning it'
Read more: The UK’s 10 best farmers’ markets – from Scotland to Cornwall
While senior officers are salaried employees working standard full-time hours, councillors receive allowances and are not contracted to a set working week. Many, however, regularly put in long hours on council duties.
Cllr Tudor said most councillors receive a basic annual allowance of £18,368. In her case, she also receives an additional £6,796 for chairing a planning committee.
She said that after tax, this leaves her with around £1,840 a month — which she argued is comparable to earnings at National Minimum Wage level.
“All those councillors who don’t have chair or cabinet positions get the basic allowance,” she said, adding that this falls well below both the National Minimum Wage equivalent and the Real Living Wage when hours worked are taken into account.
She told Cornwall Live: “This is why it’s hard to make ends meet as a Cornwall councillor unless you have a pension, another job or other income streams."
Cllr Tudor also rejected the idea that councillors should serve without pay, warning it would deter people from standing and harm local democracy.
“A nice idea, but not practical or good for democracy,” she said, noting that parish and town councillors — who receive no pay — are increasingly being asked to take on more responsibilities.
She added that while councillors’ allowances make up only a small part of the council’s overall budget, the cost of senior officer salaries is significantly higher.
