Keir Starmer has been forced to insist he remains “in control” of the government less than three months after taking office.

The prime minister has endured his toughest week since winning the general election amid a No.10 briefing war over the salary of his chief of staff, Sue Gray, and criticism of the £100,000 of hospitality he has accepted since 2019.

The rows have threatened to overshadow Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, which kicks off at the weekend.

It emerged yesterday that Gray saw her salary go up to £170,000 – more than the PM’s – after the election, angering government special advisers who accuse her of blocking higher wages for them.

In an interview with BBC South East political editor Charlotte Wright, Starmer was asked whether he has “got a grip” of his administration.

He said: “I’m completely in control. I’m focused and every day the message from me to the team is exactly the same, which is we have to deliver.

“We were elected on a big mandate to deliver change, I am determined that we are going to do that.”

Starmer was also forced to defend his decision to accept seats in a corporate box at the Emirates Stadium, home of his favourite football team, Arsenal.

The revelation followed the row over Starmer and his wife, Victoria, accepting thousands of pounds worth of clothes from the Labour peer and multi-millionaire party donor, Lord Alli.

The PM told BBC Yorkshire’s political editor, James Vincent: “Since I’ve been prime minister the security advice is don’t go in the stands, not least because it’ll cost a fortune to the taxpayer in security police officers if you choose to go in the stands.

“I’ve taken that advice, I’ve been offered a ticket somewhere else. Frankly I’d rather be in the stands but I’m not going to ask the taxpayer to indulge me to be in the stands when I could go and sit somewhere else where the club and the security say it’s safer for me to be. That is for me a common sense situation.”

He added: “I’m a life-long Arsenal fan. I’ve been going for years and years and years and it’s a real passion of mine and I can go with my boy.”

Starmer also defended the government’s controversial decision to axe winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners, repeating his claim that Labour had to fill a £22 billion “black hole” left by the last government.

He was asked by BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire political editor Tim Iredale: “How long can you carry on blaming the last lot? It gets cold up north, could you survive on £220 a week?”

The PM replied: “We can’t pretend the £22 billion black hole doesn’t exist. I could pretend I had a magic wand, but I don’t want to give people false hope things can be fixed by Christmas.”

A furious war of words has erupted inside 10 Downing Street after it emerged that Keir Starmer’s chief of staff earns more than he does.

The BBC reported that Sue Gray’s salary was increased to £170,000 after the general election. The prime minister receives around £167,000.

Several unnamed government special advisers – who are known in Westminster as SpAds – were quoted attacking Gray, who has been accused of turning down their pleas for higher wages.

One said: “It’s bizarre. I’m working harder than ever in a more important job and they want to pay me less than the Labour Party was paying me when it was broke.”

Another described Gray’s pay package as “the highest ever special adviser salary in the history of special advisers”.

The attacks on Gray sparked an angry backlash from her allies in Downing Street.

One government source told HuffPost UK: “Any questions people have should be directed at the process and not an individual.”

Another source insisted it was “categorically untrue” that Gray was warned that her pay rise would put her on a higher salary than the PM but went ahead with it anyway.

The source said: “Sue Gray had no involvement in any decision on her pay. She was informed of her salary after this had been set.”

A Cabinet Office spokesman told the BBC: “It is false to suggest that political appointees have made any decisions on their own pay bands or determining their own pay.

“Any decision on special adviser pay is made by officials not political appointees. As set out publicly, special advisers cannot authorise expenditure of public funds or have responsibility for budgets.”

However, HuffPost UK has also learned that Gray sits on the “Special Adviser People Board”, which decides SpAd pay, alongside senior civil servants Darren Tierney, Fiona Ryland and Simon Madden.

The latest briefings against Gray come amid well-documented tensions between her and Morgan McSweeney, No.10′s head of political strategy.

She first rose to national prominence while she was still a senior civil servants and conducted the government investigation into the partygate scandal.

Her damning report into lockdown-breaking parties inside 10 Downing Street was one of the contributory factors which ultimately led to Boris Johnson’s resignation as prime minister in 2022.