Leicestershire MP’s top spenders revealed

The MPs who spend the most money in Leicester and the wider county have been revealed in the annual report detailing expenses for each MP published this week. In addition to their salary, MPs receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office, hiring staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency and traveling between Parliament and their constituency.

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

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

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The information listed MEPs’ expenses for office, staff, accommodation, travel and accommodation and other costs, which did not include food and drink or any personal costs.

The table below shows the costs of each MP – just search for the name in the search box.

IPSA said: “This funding is provided to support MPs’ parliamentary work, enable them to employ staff and provide constituency services. MPs use most of their funding from IPSA to pay their staff to support their constituents – in 2022/23 almost 80% of their spending went to staffing.

“They also use the funding provided by IPSA to pay for the rent of a constituency office and travel to and from Westminster to represent their constituents in Parliament. They cannot request food or drink as part of their normal working day or for any personal expenses. .”

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 that their money is being spent on the right things, in the right way. We publish MPs’ expenses every two months to ensure this transparency.

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