How much your MP spent –
MPS’ spending has been revealed in an annual national report.
On top of their salary – which for non-ministers is £91,346 – MPs receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.
The latest figures were revealed before Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called a General Election. Parliament is due to be dissolved on May 30.
The highest spending MPs in Leicester and Leicestershire were Neil O’Brien, representing Harborough, with a total spend of £276,613 and Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton, totalling £274,081.
The MP with the lowest expenditure was Charnwood’s Edward Argar, with a total spend of £138,871.
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) said: “This funding is provided to support MPs’ parliamentary work, enables them to employ staff and provide constituency services.
“MPs use most of the funding from Ipsa to pay their staff to support their constituents. In 2022/23, almost 80 per cent of their spending went towards employing staff.
“They also use the funding to pay the rent on a constituency office and for travel to and from Westminster.
“They cannot claim for food or drink as part of their normal working day, or for any personal costs.”
Mr O’Brien said: “This money is spent on staff who work in the constituency, helping people in Harborough, Oadby, Wigston and the villages.
“This is a relatively big seat and I get around 200 emails a day from the 109,000 people in the constituency.
“We help with around 350 complex cases a month, ranging from helping people with complex legal disputes to housing issues.
“Not all MPs employ the full complement of staff.
“I have always thought it was important to both live in the constituency and have a full team here, so we can help people with their problems as quickly as possible.”
Lee Bridges, director of policy and engagement at Ipsa, said: “Transparency is an essential part of supporting trust in democracy.
“The public has a right to know their money is being spent on the right things, in the right way.
“MPs play a vital role in democracy and we believe serving as an MP should not be reserved to those wealthy enough to fund it themselves.”
ANALYSIS by experts suggests Loughborough and two seats in Leicester could be among the target seats in the forthcoming election.
Professors Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, of the University of Plymouth, worked out the swings likely needed to win each parliamentary constituency, on behalf of the PA news agency, the BBC, ITN and Sky News.
The election is being held using new constituency boundaries, which means the results cannot be compared directly with what happened at the last General Election in 2019.
A new seat has been created in the county – Mid Leicestershire – while Alicia Kearn’s Rutland and Melton seat will be split.
Rutland will join with Stamford, while Melton will join areas that currently belong to the Charnwood seat to form a Melton and Syston constituency.
The research, based on the new boundaries, found potentially the most vulnerable seat is Loughborough, currently held by the Conservative, Jane Hunt.
A swing of 5.9 per cent could win it for Labour.
That puts it at 61st on the list of Labour target seats. It was the only Leicestershire constituency in the top 100.
However, the list does not take account of Leicester East, won by Labour in 2019, but now held by Claudia Webbe as an independent.
Two city seats feature in the top 100
Conservative targets, including Leicester East at number 70.
A swing of 6.22 per cent to the Conservatives could win it.
Liz Kendall’s Leicester West seat is two places lower. A change of 6.32 per cent from Labour to the Conservatives could be enough.
No city or county seats are included in the potential targets for the Liberal Democrats, Greens or Reform UK. Where appropriate, the swing takes account of the need to overtake the second placed party.
The King yesterday formally approved an Order in Council to prorogue Parliament ahead of the General Election. Charles held a quickly convened Privy Council at Buckingham Palace yesterday morning where he undertook his duties in preparation for the country going to the polls on July
The King yesterday formally approved an Order in Council to prorogue Parliament
4.
Prorogation of Parliament is the end of the parliamentary session, which will happen today.
The next stage for the King will be to order the dissolution of Parliament, which will take effect on May 30.
Dissolution is when a Parliament is terminated and followed by a General Election.
It is not the first time the King has prorogued Parliament – he did so last October. But it is the first time he has done so during his reign for an election.
It will be the first time he has approved a dissolution.