A former city council spin doctor was given a £63,000 golden goodbye when he left the authority last year.
Former head of communication and promotion Takki Sulaiman, who was known as the authority’s “happiness tsar”, departed last May.
New figures from the Taxpayers’ Alliance have shown he was paid a salary of £80,697 – and received a pay-off of £63,000 when leaving.
Mr Sulaiman was formerly a Labour councillor in the scandal-hit London borough of Tower Hamlets.
The opposition SNP and Liberal Democrat groups criticised his appointment in November 2014, but the Labour-led administration at the time insisted that the HR team had not been told of his political background.
SNP group leader Stephen Flynn said: “The administration was told that the council did not need a spin doctor but they pushed ahead and the cost borne by the people of Aberdeen is eye-watering.”
But Aberdeen Labour council co-leader Jenny Laing hit back: “Although Mr Sulaiman’s stay with the council was short he did help create the successful 365 project which has brought forward the Great Aberdeen Run, tour cycle race and Nuart which have all contributed to the cultural offering of Aberdeen.”
The spin doctor position has since been abolished.
It is understood that Mr Sulaiman how runs a self-catering property on the shores of Loch Awe on the west coast.