The going rate

Betsy Duncan Smith earned ?18,000 over 15 months for her secretarial duties. By a rough calculation that works out as an annual salary of ?14,400. But how does Betsy Duncan Smith's salary compare to other career opportunities?

At the moment, the starting salary for a full-time nurse is ?16,005, a station assistant on the London Underground starts out at ?18,932 and the average salary for a London bus driver is ?18,000.

Teachers are in high demand and as an unqualified teacher you will get a starting salary of around ?14,500. However, if you are working in central London, the figure rises to ?16,683. If you are prepared to work overtime and be 'flexible', you could also become a porter in a central London hospital and earn ?15,000 a year for your services, roughly the same as a qualified nursery nurse can expect.

If you don't mind interrupting people during their evening meals just to hear that you are the most hated person on the planet, you could also become a full-time telephone salesperson for a marketing organisation and receive a pay-package equivalent to BDS's secretarial salary.

At the more exotic end of the job market you could match BDS's salary by becoming a trainee animal technician responsible for the daily care and maintenance of rodents, or a trainee DNA analyst.

Other jobs with salaries around the ?14,400 mark include a restaurant supervisor in a five-star London hotel (plus free meals on duty), a shop attendant in a fashion store in Oxford Street (including a 75% staff discount on all clothes and accessories), a receptionist in a health club and a salesperson in a museum bookstore.