MPs’ pay to increase by 2.9% from April raising their salary to £86,584

MPs will get a pay rise of 2.9% from April, bringing the overall salary from £84,144 to £86,584.

MPs’ salaries are decided by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which has a legal duty to set their pay independently of parliament and government.

The IPSA said the annual adjustment to MPs’ basic pay for 2023-24 will take effect from 1 April and said the increase would be the same as the average rise for public sector workers last year.

IPSA was created in 2009, largely as a response to the MPs’ expenses scandal, in a bid to make the payments more transparent and reach independent decisions on salaries.

The salary increase comes as households across the UK grapple with cost of living pressures, while the government is facing a wave of industrial action by nurses, railway workers and teachers, among others, as part of ongoing disputes over pay.

Thousands of public sector workers are demanding inflation-busting pay rises which ministers say they cannot afford.

Richard Lloyd, Ipsa’s chairman, said: “In confirming MPs’ pay for next year, we have once again considered very carefully the extremely difficult economic circumstances, the government’s evolving approach to public sector pay in the light of forecasted rates of inflation, and the principle that MPs’ pay should be reflective of their responsibility in our democracy.

“Our aim is to ensure that pay is fair for MPs, regardless of their financial circumstances, to support the most diverse of parliaments. Serving as an MP should not be the preserve of those wealthy enough to fund it themselves. It is important for our democracy that people from any background should see representing their communities in Parliament as a possibility.”

The average regular pay growth for the private sector was 6.9% in August to October 2022, and 2.7% for the public sector, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), but many public sector workers are demanding pay rises above this in a bid to keep up with record levels of inflation, which is currently at 10.5%.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is demanding a pay rise of 5% above the rate of inflation, while teachers, railway workers, civil servants, postal workers and paramedics are striking for similar pay deals.