A record number of civil servants are earning more than the Prime Minister, new data have revealed.

More than 330 civil servants are now paid more than Mr Johnson, who receives £161,000 in a salary that combines his role as an MP and government minister.

The Government is required to publish the names and salaries of civil servants paid more than £150,000, which have also increased to a record level after an increase of more than eight per cent in the last year.

One of the highest-paid mandarins in Whitehall is Sue Gray, who is currently investigating Mr Johnson over parties held in Downing Street during the pandemic. She is paid £150,000.

Ms Gray works as the second permanent secretary in Michael Gove’s Levelling Up Department, but has been seconded to the Cabinet Office’s propriety and ethics team to oversee the probe into “partygate”.

The highest-paid official in the Government is Mark Thurston, the chief executive of HS2 Ltd, who is paid £620,000.