Harborough’s MP revealed as spending the most on expenses in Leicestershire

On top of their salary, MPs receive expenses to cover costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency.

And figures released in a report last week have revealed where in the county the most is spent.

The highest spending MPs for Leicester and Leicestershire were Harborough, Oadby and Wigston MP Neil O’Brien, with a total spend of £276,613, and Rutland and Melton MP Alicia Kearns, totalling £274,081. The MP with the lowest expenditure was Edward Argar, representing Charnwood, with a total spend of £138,871.

The data, published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), shows details of spending by MPs against their parliamentary budgets, from December 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024.

The information listed MPs spending on office, staffing, accommodation, travel and subsistence and other costs, which does not include food and drink or any personal costs.

But Mr O’Brien says Harborough is a large seat and most of his expenditure is on staff so he can work to resolve community issues quickly.

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.”

A spokesman from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority said most of the costs are for staff, adding: “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 IPSA provides to pay the rent on a constituency office and for travel to and from Westminster to represent their constituents in Parliament. They cannot claim for food or drink as part of their normal working day, or for any personal costs.”

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. We publish MPs’ expenditure every two months to provide this transparency.

“MPs play a vital role in our democracy and we believe that serving as an MP should not be reserved to those wealthy enough to fund it themselves.”

Visit www.theipsa.org.uk/mp-staffing-business-costs/annual-publications to view the report or find out more.