Power and Pay: High-flyers among fairer sex fairly well represented in list

Local NHS chief executives Maggie Boyle and Julia Squire hold influential positions in the healthcare sector and take home six-figure salaries.

Ms Boyle, chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, saw her pay band move up in 2009-10 on 2008-09, from 215,000-220,000 to 220,000-225,000.

Ms Squire, chief executive of Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, dropped from 195,000-200,000 in 2008-09 to 185,000-190,000 in 2009-10.

Private sector big-hitters Harriet Green, chief executive of Premier Farnell, and Dorothy Thompson, chief executive of Drax Group, both received pay packets surpassing 750,000 in the last year.

Joanne Roney broke new ground when she was appointed as Wakefield Council's first female chief executive in July 2008.

She joined from Sheffield Council, after spending almost 10 years at the local authority.

Her salary of 184,410 is higher than that of fellow West Yorkshire council chief executives Tom Riordan, who is on 182,147 at Leeds Council, and the 178,476 paid to Tony Reeves at Bradford.

Ms Roney earns considerably more than Nicola Yates, who is also in the Power and Pay list but receives a lower salary of 160,000 as chief executive of Hull Council.

Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones has had a fascinating career in the public and private sector – from NatWest to the BBC – and now earns 78,891 in her role as Security Minister, which she was handed by David Cameron in May.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who was born and educated in Yorkshire, also holds a position of national political influence as co-chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio. The latest accounts show she claimed 55,699 in annual allowances from the House of Lords in 2008-09. She does not receive any Government money for her role as Minister without Portfolio but is paid a wage by the Conservative Party for being its co-chair.

Other politicians in the list include Rosie Winterton, the Doncaster Central MP who was educated at Doncaster Grammar School and Hull University. She was appointed Opposition Chief Whip in October by Ed Miliband and receives a salary of 98,740.