For all the huffing and puffing communities minister Eric Pickles does at councils over paying outrageous salaries at the top, he says little about his own backyard.

Who is the highest paid person in local government? It’s Boris Johnson’s recently appointed aide to Transport for London – Peter Hendy, on around £450,000 a year.

Andrew Gilligan at the Telegraph today (who has actually done some research for once), says:

As for Mr Pickles’s despised “£230,000 chief executives”, there are several in that income bracket in Tory council-land, too: the chief executive of Conservative Essex, Joanna Killian, on £237,000, plus pension contributions of £47,000; Kent’s Peter Gilroy, with a salary and bonus of £225,000, plus a pension of £56,000; Suffolk’s Andrea Hill (£218,000, plus £49,000 pension), and many others.

Mrs Hill has now been suspended amid questions about her fondness for luxury hotels at council taxpayers’ expense. But perhaps the most egregious sleepover of all was by Mike Whitby, the Conservative leader of Birmingham City Council, who took a £750-a-night suite at the Hyatt hotel during the 2008 Conservative Party conference, which was in Birmingham that year. The Hyatt is three miles from Cllr Whitby’s home.

Yet when was the last time you saw Eric Pickles attack Tories for such profligate excesses?

I’ve said before that Ken Livingstone should focus on how much money Boris keeps wasting. Boris is also wasting £50,000 on Olyympics bunting – this should add more fuel to that fire.

Reader comments

1. Liberal Conspiracy

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2. philip lewis

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3. steve conway

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4. Will Forster

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5. Jonathan Hume

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6. Brian Moylan

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7. Macus Junius Brutus

   Boris aide is highest paid in local government: £450,000 a year! http://bit.ly/lKytr5

8. Andy Bean

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9. Macus Junius Brutus

   Boris aide highest paid in local govt: £450,000 a year! | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/0uy0FLu words fail me

10. sunny hundal

    Who is the highest paid person in local government? It's a Boris aide at £450k per year http://bit.ly/lKytr5

11. bill bold

    Who is the highest paid person in local government? It's a Boris aide at £450k per year http://bit.ly/lKytr5

12. Jonathan Mickleburgh

    Who is the highest paid person in local government? It's a Boris aide at £450k per year http://bit.ly/lKytr5

13. Merlene Emerson

    Who is the highest paid person in local government? It's a Boris aide at £450k per year http://bit.ly/lKytr5

14. Lucy Proctor

    Who is the highest paid person in local government? It's a Boris aide at £450k per year http://bit.ly/lKytr5

15. Turhan Ozen

    Who is the highest paid person in local government? It's a Boris aide at £450k per year http://bit.ly/lKytr5

16. DJC

    @LibCon shows Tory hypocrisy as Boris Johnson's aide, Peter Hendy, is highest paid in local govt, at £450k http://t.co/MvMuBdQ

17. Oasis Caretaker

    Boris aide is highest paid in local government: £450,000 a year! http://bit.ly/lKytr5

18. smileandsubvert

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19. Simon de Deney

    Who is the highest paid person in local government? It's a Boris aide at £450k per year http://bit.ly/lKytr5

20. paulstpancras

    Boris aide highest paid in local govt, at £450k | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/qdTrUhc via @libcon

21. Matthew Cooke

    Boris aide highest paid in local govt, at £450k | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/qdTrUhc via @libcon

22. cllrdarrenfower

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23. Daniel Pitt

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24. Marverde

    Boris aide highest paid in local govt, at £450k | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/9NA1tK1 via @libcon

25. Marverde

    Boris aide highest paid in local govt, at £450k | Liberal Conspiracy http://t.co/9NA1tK1 via @libcon

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