That was 33% higher than his £4.9m pay package for 2024. It also surpassed the £5.2m received by his predecessor Alison Rose for 2022, who Thwaite replaced in 2023 after the group’s row with Nigel Farage over what the Reform leader said was the discriminatory closure of his accounts. It means Thwaite is the highest-earning chief executive of the group since Goodwin, who was later blamed for bringing the bank to its knees, requiring a £45bn government bailout during the banking crisis in 2008. The government sold its final shares in NatWest in May.