He defended the award of the contract to Public First after a campaign group complained of ‘apparent bias’ and took legal action.
The prime minister and the Chancellor Rishi Sunak argued that "we can't justify it now", so the recommended September circuit breaker didn't happen.
A Cabinet Office report detailed the £9.6 million pay bill for the 102 special advisers - known as Spads - from April 2019 to March 2020.