# Leeds: senior pay and councillor allowances url: https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/pay-and-allowances/leeds/ updated: 29 September 2026 licence: Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Figures: each source's own licence, listed under Sources. publisher: [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk) # Leeds: senior pay and councillor allowances Last updated 29 September 2026. Figures refresh every night. [How each figure is worked out](/methodology/). In its draft statement of accounts for 2025-26, Leeds reports total remuneration of **£233,069** for its chief executive (including employer pension contributions), a year in which the post changed hands, **51** employees paid £100,000 or more, and **£2,696,000** paid in members' allowances. ## Key figures - £233,069Chief Executive, 2025-26 - 51Staff paid £100,000 or more, 2025-26 - £2,696,000Members' allowances, 2025-26 - £18,937Basic allowance per councillor, 2025-26 ## Chief Executive Total remuneration of **£233,069** in 2025-26, including employer pension contributions. Excluding pension contributions: £202,115. The post changed hands, or the figure covers part of a year, so it is not compared with the year before. From the accounts: 2025/26: Chief Executive (Ed Whiting), 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026: salary, fees and allowances 202,115; employer's pension 30,954; total 233,069. 2024/25 lines as printed: Chief Executive (Tom Riordan), 1 April 2024 to 22 September 2024, 94,833 / 14,943 / 109,776 (plus £38.3k as Returning Officer for national elections, stated as additional); Chief Executive (Ed Whiting), 7 January 2025 to 31 March 2025, 47,996 / 7,583 / 55,579. The Director of Strategy & Resources held the post of Acting Chief Executive from 23 September 2024 to 6 January 2025 (her 2024/25 total 211,286 reflects both roles). totalExclPension is the printed 'Salary, Fees and Allowances' column. PDF page 66 (printed page 51) ## Employees paid £50,000 or more 2,153 employees in 2025-26, up 21.2% on 2024-25 (1,776). 51 were paid £100,000 or more, 6.1 per 100,000 residents. The median among the 4 other metropolitan borough councils collected so far is 8.0 per 100,000. | Band | 2025-26 | 2024-25 | | --- | --- | --- | | £50,000 to £54,999Details | 1,049 | 868 | | 2024-25868 | | | | £55,000 to £59,999Details | 377 | 287 | | 2024-25287 | | | | £60,000 to £64,999Details | 224 | 222 | | 2024-25222 | | | | £65,000 to £69,999Details | 156 | 114 | | 2024-25114 | | | | £70,000 to £74,999Details | 94 | 94 | | 2024-2594 | | | | £75,000 to £79,999Details | 74 | 53 | | 2024-2553 | | | | £80,000 to £84,999Details | 44 | 29 | | 2024-2529 | | | | £85,000 to £89,999Details | 52 | 42 | | 2024-2542 | | | | £90,000 to £94,999Details | 19 | 18 | | 2024-2518 | | | | £95,000 to £99,999Details | 13 | 15 | | 2024-2515 | | | | £100,000 to £104,999Details | 13 | 7 | | 2024-257 | | | | £105,000 to £109,999Details | 10 | 6 | | 2024-256 | | | | £110,000 to £114,999Details | 8 | 8 | | 2024-258 | | | | £115,000 to £119,999Details | 7 | 9 | | 2024-259 | | | | £120,000 to £159,999Details | 10 | 4 | | 2024-254 | | | | £160,000 to £189,999Details | 3 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | Includes schools staff. Senior officers listed separately are not in these counts. From the accounts: 'Other employee remuneration in excess of £50,000': 'employees whose total remuneration is above £50,000 but who are not included in the detailed disclosure for senior employees'. Split into Teachers and Other Staff; counts are the Total column (2,153 in 2025/26; 1,776 in 2024/25). Above £120,000 the council combines bands (£120,000-£159,999; £160,000-£189,999; 2024/25 shows '-' for the top band). Includes 1 teacher and 18 other staff (2024/25: 1 and 8) normally paid under £50k who received Early Leavers Initiative lump sums. Source: Leeds, [Statement of Accounts 2025/26 Unaudited Draft figures approved 2nd July 2026](https://www.leeds.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2026-07/draft%20statement%20of%20accounts%202025-26.pdf) (draft), PDF page 67 (printed page 52). Read by hand; checked 2026-09-24. ## Councillors' allowances £2,696,000 in 2025-26, up 2.5% on 2024-25 (£2,630,000), or £3.21 per resident. The median among the 4 other metropolitan borough councils collected so far is £3.26 per resident. | Paid as | Total | | --- | --- | | Basic allowances | £1,864,794 | | Special responsibility allowances | £831,480 | | Expenses | not printed | | All | £2,696,274 | The basic allowance for each councillor is £18,937 a year (2025-26). From the accounts: "Members' Allowances (£000s): Basic Allowance 1,865 (2024/25 1,824); Special Responsibility Allowance 831 (806); total 2,696 (2,630)" (PDF page 73 (printed page 58), note 12.9) Published allowances: [Members Allowances 25-26 (Leeds City Council, published on Data Mill North)](https://datamillnorth.org/download/ep6xw/zjk/Members%20Allowances%2025-26.pdf). ## What this data does and doesn't show - Every figure is as Leeds printed it, in accounts that have not yet been audited. Counts in the £100,000 figure are our sum of the council's bands. - Comparisons are with the other metropolitan borough councils read so far; no national figure is published for England. - Published 2025/26 allowances list prints no column totals; basic and SRA are our sums of the per-member values and agree with the accounts note (£1,865k and £831k). The 'Dependant carers/travel and subsistence allowance' column carries no values in the list, so expenses is left null. Basic rate is the full-year Basic figure (18,937) shown for councillors in the 2025/26 list; the allowances scheme itself was not checked. ## Related pages - [Back to Council senior pay and councillor allowances](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/pay-and-allowances/) - [How much is council tax and what does it pay for?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/council-tax/) - [Who is my MP, and what does their office cost?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/mps/) - [Where does my tax money actually go?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/for-every-100-pounds-of-tax/) ## More from this publisher - [UK tax calculators](https://howlongisit.co.uk) Published by [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). The figures belong to the publishers listed under Sources and are used under their licences. Figures last updated 29 September 2026.