George Osborne gave his image adviser a 42% pay rise - while asking public-sector workers to accept pay freeze

The amount of money spent on government spin doctors has risen to £9.2m

George Osborne promoted the special adviser in charge of his public image (PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

George Osborne has given his image adviser a promotion and a pay rise of 42 per cent - while asking public-sector workers to accept a pay freeze.

The amount of money spent on government spin doctors has risen to £9.2m in 2014-15, from £8.4m in the preivous financial year.

Details of the cost of special advisers were released by the Cabinet Office on the day Parliament breaks for Christmas, which Labour derided as a "shockingly cynical move".

Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader, told The Guardian: "David Cameron can’t bury the fact that he’s broken a direct promise he made to reduce the cost of politics and curb the number of special advisers in government."

Traditionally, Cabinet members had two state-funded political aides.

However, the new data shows there are 11 ministers with three or more aides, including Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Home Secretary Theresa May, and Justice Secretary Michael Gove.

Mr Osborne said public sector pay would be capped at a maximum of 1 per cent rise in each year when he announced the Budget in July.

Earlier this year, teachers demanded an end to the public sector pay freeze. They had a pay freeze for the first three years of the Coalition Government, followed by a one per cent rise in the following two years.