The number of special advisers working in the UK government hit an all-time high in 2025-26, just-published Cabinet Office data has shown.
According to the government’s Annual Report on Special Advisers 2026, there were 159 spads working across government as of 31 March this year – up from 130 the year before. The figure represents a 22% year-on-year hike and is the highest recorded number of spads.
Spad numbers remained broadly flat between 2023-24 and 2024-25. There were 129 special advisers employed by government at the end of March 2024, when Rishi Sunak was prime minister.
Adviser numbers have climbed steadily in recent decades. According to the Institute for Government, the 1990s administration of John Major had between 34 and 38 spads at any one time. Tony Blair had between 70 and 84 spads, while successor Gordon Brown had between 73 and 74. Spad numbers only began to exceed 100 towards the end of the coalition government’s term in office, IfG data suggests.
In May, Reform UK policy chief Danny Kruger said the party would deliver a “significant increase” in the number of special advisers if it takes power at the next general election. The increased spad numbers would be part of wider plans to change the way government works.
As the headcount of spads in government has increased, so has the cost of employing them. The latest spad report says total staffing costs for special advisers was £17.9m in 2025-26, up from £16.7m in 2024-25.
Changes of administration inevitably involve the departure of spads, and the 2024-25 staffing costs included £3.1m in severance payments. That figure would mainly relate to outgoing advisers to the Sunak administration in the wake of the 2024 general election. However, Sue Gray also stepped down as Starmer’s chief of staff during this period.
The latest spad data shows that Downing Street’s acting joint chiefs of staff Vidhya Alakeson and Jill Cuthbertson are the highest paid spads in government, with salaries bracketed at £155,000-£159,999.
Alakeson and Cuthbertson were appointed following the resignation of Morgan McSweeney in February.
National security adviser Jonathan Powell was not far behind, however. He is one of four spads whose salary is bracketed at £150,000-£154,999.
Civil Service World sought a No.10 response to the latest spad figures. It had not provided one at the time of publication.