Just How Much Has MPs' Pay Changed Since 2008 Compared To Junior Doctors?

MPs may be getting a pay rise in April – and junior doctors in England have started another wave of walkouts over their salary, meaning people are inevitably drawing parallels.

The union British Medication Association (BMA) claims junior doctors have had a real terms pay cut of 26.1% since 2008-9. How have MPs’ salaries’ fared in the same time frame?

Both roles are subject to extra cash boosts depending on their seniority. For junior doctors, the number of hours worked and where they work can cause further fluctuations in their overall pay.

So, HuffPost UK has just compared the base-level each role could earn every year at a minimum, based on the gov.uk website and the BMA’s website.

Comparing MPs and junior doctors’ basic pay:

2008: MPs – £61,820, first year junior doctors – £28,274

2009: MPs – £64,766, first year junior doctors – £28,274

2010: MPs – £65,738, first year junior doctors – £28,274

2011: MPs – £65,738, first year junior doctors – £28,274

2012: MPs – £65,738, first year junior doctors – £28,274

2013: MPs – £66,396, first year junior doctors – £28,274

2014: MPs – £67,060, first year junior doctors – £28,274

2015: MPs – £74,000, first year junior doctors – £28,274

2016: MPs – £74,962, first year junior doctors – £32,398

2017: MPs – £76,011, first year junior doctors – £32,398

2018: MPs – £77,379, first year junior doctors – £32,398

2019: MPs – £79,468, first year junior doctors – £32,398

2020: MPs – £81,932, first year junior doctors – £32,398

2021: MPs – £81,932, first year junior doctors – £32,398

2022: MPs – £84,144, first year junior doctors – £32,398

2023: MPs – £86,584, first year junior doctors – £32,398

The base-level pay for MPs over the last 15 years has gone from £61,820 in 2008 to £86,584 in 2023.

The base level pay for junior doctors in their first year (in the same time period) has gone from £28,274 to £32,398.

However, as they gain experience, junior doctors can earn more. 

Between 2008 and 2016, they could earn up to £57,570.

Between 2016 and 2023, they could earn up to £63,152.

What has happened to MPs’ pay?

MPs are expected to all get a 7.1% pay rise in April, taking them from £86,584 to £92,731 for their basic salary level.

Frontbenchers then get an extra boost, depending on how senior they are – but these rates have been frozen since 2014.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority decides what MPs and Peers get paid.

Since 2015, it has used the average increase in public-sector earnings for the three months leading up to October to work out the yearly raise.

By the time April rolls around, inflation is expected to have fallen to around 2%.

But, the IPSA can also block the expected increase to MPs’ salaries, as it did in 2020 when a £3,000 rise was seen as inappropriate at the height of the Covid pandemic.

The Westminster watchdog will make a final decision in the New Year on how much to hike increases for 2024.

What has happened to junior doctors’ pay?

Junior doctors went on their 26th day of strikes on Monday, in a walkout expected to last three days. Another six-day walkout is planned at the start of January.

It comes after the BMA’s talks with the government broke down in December.

Nearly half of NHS doctors are junior doctors, as the term encompasses both those who are just out of university and some who have more than a decade of experience.

Two-thirds of junior doctors are part of BMA, which is asking for an extra 35% to their salaries to make up for below-inflation pay rises since 2008.

That’s much higher than what the government has already offered.

Sunak said in July that a 6% rise and £1,250 added to their salaries would be the government’s “final” offer, and there would be no more negotiation.

More recently, the government offered an additional 3% rise  – but the union rejected it, noting it was “unevenly spread across doctors’ grades”.

The union said: “The approach from [health secretary Victoria] Atkins and the team has been productive but ultimately that alone is not sufficient to make up for 15 years of declining pay.

“A year after our dispute started, we are still too far from turning the tide on plummeting pay, morale, and retention of doctors.”