George Osborne gives mate 19% pay rise while Tory austerity sees struggling nurses get 1%

George Osborne has frozen the wages of six million public sector workers since the Coalition came to power, plunging many into poverty under his cruel austerity drive.

Yet the heartless Chancellor lavished a 19% pay rise on his right-hand man Rupert Harrison - boosting the Chief of Staff’s £80,000 salary by £15,000 to £95,000.

The special adviser is one of the chief architects of the public sector pay freeze.

And the number of spin doctors has risen to from 66 to 103 at a cost of £8.4million to taxpayers, smashing a Coalition pledge to “put a limit” on political appointees.

News of Mr Harrison’s pay hike slipped out as the Government today unveiled a further £2.5billion of town hall cuts, hitting social care, the homeless and ­children’s centres.

Public sector workers have already had suffered salary freezes, effectively a pay cut due to the soaring cost of living.

Union chiefs and opposition MPs tonight condemned the rise handed to the aide who, like Mr Osborne, went to Eton public school.

Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “It’s one law for well-heeled Tory spin doctors paid by taxpayers and yet nurses, paramedics and other public sector workers get nil to 1%.

"This shows where the Tories’ ­priorities lie: getting re-elected rather than looking after the nation.”

Labour MP Shiela Gilmore added: “It’s no wonder George Osborne doesn’t think the cost-of-living-crisis is a problem if he’s giving his chief adviser a pay rise of almost 20%.

“Ordinary working people, who have seen their wages after inflation fall by over £1,600 since 2010, won’t be impressed.”

Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd said: “I’m appalled at the idea that anybody should be getting such a ­staggering pay rise when ordinary, hard-working people throughout the public sector are struggling on no increase at all or increases of just 1%.

“It’s a disgrace and if the Chancellor wants to retain any credibility he should reverse this immediately.”

Mr Harrison’s pay rise is almost £2,000 more than someone on the national minimum wage earns in a year.

Figures released by the Cabinet Office today showed David Cameron has 26 spin doctors and advisers, with five of them earning more than £100,000 a year.

Director of Communications Craig Oliver and chief of staff Ed Llewellyn are both on £140,000, just £2,000 less than the PM.

Christopher Lockwood, deputy head of the No 10 Policy Unit, is on £134,000, the PM’s press secretary Graeme Wilson £110,000 and deputy chief of staff Kate Fall £100,000.

Nick Clegg has 20 political advisers, with spin doctor Steve Lotinga the highest paid on £105,000.

The 2010 Coalition Agreement promised to “put a limit on the number on special advisers.”

And the Lib Dems pledged in 2009 the aides would not “be paid for by the taxpayer”.

But the figures show the party now has 28 special advisers costing the taxpayer £1.7million.

Shadow Commons Leader Angela Eagle added: “Another day, another broken promise from David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

"David Cameron promised to get the cost of politics down but under him the number of special advisers spirals ever upwards. The public are now picking up bill of over £8million to pay for his appointees.

“This shows you can’t trust a word Nick Clegg says. The Lib Dems said special advisers shouldn’t be paid for by the public but as soon as he got his feet under the Cabinet table he broke his word.

"Nick Clegg alone has more advisers working for him than he has female MPs.”

Tory William Hague insisted the number of aides has increased because two parties came together to form a government.

He said: “There are more special advisers now given the nature of coalition.”

Rupert Harrison: The Eton boy behind austerity

AIDE Rupert Harrison has been called the “real Chancellor” and “the most important person in Government you’ve never heard of”.

A central figure in successive pay freezes, he has worked for Osborne since 2006.

According to one senior civil servant “every important policy crosses his desk before it gets to Osborne”.

The bank manager’s son, who is in his mid-30s, was head boy at Eton before getting a first in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford.

Friends say he would like to be an MP but wants to make money in the City first.

Married to lawyer Joanna Orphin, with one son, they mix in a glitzy circle said to include actress Rosamund Pike.