David Cameron caused controversy last month when he went against civil service advice to award his former special advisers with inflated exit pay to the tune of £282,000.

In his resignation honours list, he also treated several of his top advisers to life peerages and CBEs.

But what else did Cameron do for lucky members of inner circle?

Now it has emerged that some of Cameron’s closest special advisers were rewarded with huge bumper pay rises last year. The salaries of the then prime minister’s spads were increased by up to 24 per cent last year, with some individuals getting rises worth more than the £14,976 that someone on the ‘national living wage’ set by the government earns in a year.

The luckiest special adviser might be Adam Atashzai. As well as being one of the spads given an enhanced severance package, he saw his salary jump from less than £58,200 in 2014 to £72,000 in 2015 — an increase of at least 24 per cent.

Atashzai was further rewarded by being given an MBE in Cameron’s resignation honours list.

Others benefiting from their former’s employer’s largesse with the public purse included Ameet Gill, former director of strategy, and Liz Sugg, former head of operations at No 10. They both received pay rises of 23 per cent — their salaries rising from £80,000 in 2014 to £98,000 in 2015.

Sugg, awarded a CBE last year for her service, was another spad to get an honour in the wake of Cameron’s departure, being given a life peerage.

Special adviser Kate Marley went from being on Pay Band 1 in 2014 – capped at £54,121 – to earning £65,000 in 2015, an increase of at least 20 per cent.

Another spad whose pay was increased was Daniel Korski, who was deputy director of the No 10 policy unit. His pay went up by 16 per cent, from £80,000 in 2014 to £93,000 in 2015. Korski was also among those honoured earlier this month, being given a CBE.

Special adviser Nick Seddon, who was awarded an MBE, benefited from an 11 per cent pay rise last year, with his salary increased to £88,000.

Max Chambers, former speechwriter, and another adviser, Laura Trott, enjoyed more modest increases, with their salaries going from £67,000 to £72,000 – a seven per cent rise. Trott was another of Cameron’s former aides to be given the bonus of an honour, being awarded an MBE.

Read the full story [1] at Civil Service World.