The Bank of England’s general counsel took home at least 20% more than the four highest earners in the Government Legal Service (GLS), with data from Freedom of Information Act requests continuing to highlight the disparity in pay between top earners in the public and private sector.

Sonya Branch (pictured below right), who leads a team of 153 legal staff at the Bank of England, netted £209,887 in the year to February 2018, with an additional £15,790 in benefits.