Do Scotland’s politicians deserve their bumper pay rise?

Bumping up politicians’ pay seldom goes down well, especially in times of economic hardship. But the news that members of the Scottish parliament are to receive a 6.7 per cent salary hike will not be greeted with much enthusiasm among taxpayers north of the border.

The rise takes the annual pay of all 129 MSPs to £72,195 and comes after the method for calculating Holyrood salary increases was switched from the ONS annual survey of hours and earnings (ASHE) to the more generous average weekly earnings (AWE).

A spokesperson for the Scottish parliament said the previous method ‘has been increasingly out of sync with other wage inflation indices to the point that MSPs received 1.5 per cent last year when general inflation was running at 10 per cent’. The poor wee dears.

The new salary for MSPs is more than twice that of the Scottish median salary, which stood at £33,332 in 2022. It will make First Minister Humza Yousaf eligible for a total annual salary of £170,211, which is higher than for the prime minister. The hike comes as MSPs are considering a budget that would raise taxes and deliver a £196 million funding cut to the housing budget.

In advance of her budget, Scottish finance secretary Shona Robison said of the public sector that ‘the size of the workforce will have to reduce’. Mr Steerpike wonders if the same fiscal discipline will be applied to Holyrood and when the number of MSPs will be reduced accordingly.