Former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid has said the ‘worst financial decision’ of his career was becoming an MP and taking home a £98,599 salary.
The ex-banker and former chancellor said despite it being one of his ‘best life decisions’, being elected to parliament left him earning, in real terms, less than he did in the financial sector at 21.
MPs currently earn at least £98,588-a-year, according to Parliament’s website.
When he was elected as the member for Bromsgrove in 2010, MPs earnt a basic salary of £65,738 – equivalent to £103,000 now. The UK’s median full-time salary was £39,039 in 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Javid said: ‘My worst financial decision, but one of my best life decisions, was leaving the City for politics. I gave up significant income.
‘What I earned (sic) as an MP was less in real terms than when I started in banking at 21, but I have no regrets.
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‘In politics, if done well, you can improve a lot of lives, and that is why I feel it was worthwhile.’
Before being elected, Javid spent almost two decades working in finance.
After studying economics and politics at the University of Exeter, he joined Chase Manhattan Bank in 1991.
By the age of 25, he had become a vice president at the bank after working mostly in the Latin American markets.
The former health secretary later joined Deutsche Bank, where he rose through the ranks to become a senior managing director and board member of Deutsche Bank International.
While the exact figures were never made public, senior managing directors at major investment banks are thought to earn over £1m a year in salaries and bonuses.
(Picture: PA)
If true, that would mean that Javid would have taken more than a 90% pay cut upon joining the Commons.
The son of Pakistani immigrants, Javid’s current wealth is a far cry from his upbringing.
Born in Rochdale in 1969, he spent most of his childhood in Bristol, where his parents ran a shop and often struggled to make ends meet.
Javid has previously described growing up in Stapleton Road – once dubbed Britain’s ‘most dangerous street’ – and has spoken about experiencing racism during his youth.
In his memoir, he recalled living in cramped accommodation and watching his parents struggle before becoming the first member of his family to attend university.
Elsewhere in the Telegraph interview, the Tory politician also talked about meeting his wife while working at a Commercial Union in Bristol and how he used his wealth to buy his parents a house.