My expenses this year
This is the time of year when MPs’ salaries and expense claims are made public. This was not always the case but, when Labour came into power, we felt that the public had a right to know how much their representatives cost. So, here is the breakdown of my salary and expenses claims for this year.
My salary was £59,095 and, because my husband can afford to pay my living expenses, I used this income to fund two constituency caseworkers. My office expenses claim totalled £130,971. This sum was not paid directly to me but was spent on my behalf by the House of Commons' Fees Office. This year’s amount covered the following :
- £83,157 in salary costs for my three parliamentary assistants.
- £19,997 to cover the costs of stationery, printing, telephones, computing, maintenance, staff training, cleaning and repairs costs in my two offices.
- £3,906 to cover the costs of parliamentary postage and IT.
I also claimed all £21,634 of my “Living Away From Home Allowance” this year. This covers some of the extra costs that MPs with out of London constituencies incur when they stay in the capital whilst parliament is sitting. In addition, I claimed travel expenses of £2,277 which brought my total living away/travelling to London claim to £23,911.
This makes me the 410th, out of 646, most expensive MP in relation to living away/travelling costs. My total expenses claim this year were lower than those of neighbouring MPs Peter Lilley and Oliver Heald and my living and travel expenses were roughly the same.
› See a table of expenses for MPs in the Eastern region.
