Ealing Council Blasted Over 'Six-figure Spin Doctor'
Labour says Lib Dems 'haven't got the foggiest idea' how to run a borough
Councillor Gary Busuttil, the Lib Dem spokesperson for Finance and Council Honesty
January 15, 2026
A political row has broken out in Ealing after the borough’s Liberal Democrat group criticised the Labour administration for recruiting a senior communications director on a six-figure salary at a time when residents face rising living costs and increasing council tax.
The role of assistant director of communications was advertised in the Guardian jobs page for an annual salary range of £104,784 - £110,703. The deadline for applications was 8 January.
The Liberal Democrats argue the hire reflects misplaced priorities by the Labour administration, which has run the council for 15 years. They say the borough is experiencing deteriorating services while residents shoulder what they describe as the highest tax burden since the late 1940s.
In a strongly worded statement, the opposition said Labour councillors were “focused on hiring a six-figure spin doctor” instead of protecting frontline services.
They highlighted concerns about a range of issues including the expected closure of up to ten children’s centres, declining town centres, reduced street-cleaning frequency, an “unsafe” approach to housing repairs and claims of rising reports of anti-social behaviour
Councillor Gary Busuttil, the Lib Dem spokesperson for Finance and Council Honesty, said residents were being let down.
“Labour-run Ealing Council seems to be focusing on the wrong things,” he said. “They are prioritising spin-doctor recruitment instead of reducing the council tax burden, keeping the streets clean and safe, and keeping open children’s centres.”
The Labour group rejected the criticism, arguing that communications roles are standard across local government and essential for keeping residents informed.
Councillor Peter Mason said the Liberal Democrats were misrepresenting a routine appointment.
“Every council across the country, including every council led by the Liberal Democrats, employs someone to run their communications,” he said. “Councils are large organisations that need to communicate both internally to staff and externally to residents about bin collection days, public health information, public safety, responding to press enquiries and so much more.”
He added that the Lib Dems “haven’t got the foggiest idea about how to run a council” and suggested they “need to sack their spin doctor” if their press release was an example of their communications strategy.
Publicly available salary data shows that senior communications leaders in London local government typically earn between £90,000 and £110,000, according to London Councils’ senior staff disclosures.
According to PayScale the median salary for a senior communications professional is £82,979, with a broad range from £60,000 to £140,000 depending on organisational size and responsibilities.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |