In this section: Your area
Leeds: senior pay and councillor allowances
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
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 for £50,000 to £54,999 | 1,049 | 868 |
| ||
£55,000 to £59,999Details for £55,000 to £59,999 | 377 | 287 |
| ||
£60,000 to £64,999Details for £60,000 to £64,999 | 224 | 222 |
| ||
£65,000 to £69,999Details for £65,000 to £69,999 | 156 | 114 |
| ||
£70,000 to £74,999Details for £70,000 to £74,999 | 94 | 94 |
| ||
£75,000 to £79,999Details for £75,000 to £79,999 | 74 | 53 |
| ||
£80,000 to £84,999Details for £80,000 to £84,999 | 44 | 29 |
| ||
£85,000 to £89,999Details for £85,000 to £89,999 | 52 | 42 |
| ||
£90,000 to £94,999Details for £90,000 to £94,999 | 19 | 18 |
| ||
£95,000 to £99,999Details for £95,000 to £99,999 | 13 | 15 |
| ||
£100,000 to £104,999Details for £100,000 to £104,999 | 13 | 7 |
| ||
£105,000 to £109,999Details for £105,000 to £109,999 | 10 | 6 |
| ||
£110,000 to £114,999Details for £110,000 to £114,999 | 8 | 8 |
| ||
£115,000 to £119,999Details for £115,000 to £119,999 | 7 | 9 |
| ||
£120,000 to £159,999Details for £120,000 to £159,999 | 10 | 4 |
| ||
£160,000 to £189,999Details for £160,000 to £189,999 | 3 | 0 |
| ||
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 (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).
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.