Hampshire MPs cost the taxpayer nearly £200,000 each last year, new figures reveal

Figures from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority show Winchester MP Steve Brine's total business costs for the 2020-21 financial year were £172,031.08.

Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond's came to £181,036.32, Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead's came to £216,000, Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith's came to £171,000 and Romsey and Southampton North Caroline Nokes' came to £199,000 last year.

Winchester MP Steve Brine

Mr Brine's costs were down from £182,754.96 the year before, and were below the £203,880 average for all MPs.

By comparison, Darren Henry, a fellow Tory MP for Broxtowe, had costs of £280,900 last year, while Philip Hollobone, the MP for Kettering, had just £80,700.

The total costs of MPs last year rose by four per cent, to £132.5m, with almost £300,000 going on hotel claims for just 49 members – including Mr Brine.

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Business costs are the essential costs incurred by MPs while carrying out their parliamentary duties including staffing, office costs and travel.

MPs cannot claim for personal costs, such as food and drink, during their normal working day, and all claims must be compliant with Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority rules and accompanied by evidence.

IPSA’s chairman, Richard Lloyd, said compliance with the rules was at 99.7 per cent last year.

He said: “By far the largest area of spending is to pay for the salaries of MPs’ staff.

"In the last financial year MPs and their staff changed how they work to provide their constituents with a service during the pandemic.

“We enabled MPs’ staff to work from home, while the amount spent on parliamentary business travel fell to reflect different working patterns."

The IPSA figures also reveal there were 267 individual claims made by Mr Brine in 2020-21, with the most expensive single claim being for staff payroll – £126,171.46.

At the other end of the scale, the smallest one-off expense the 47-year-old claimed was £1.80 for car mileage.

The average cost of an MP was up 29 per cent, from £158,103, in 2019-20.

The Conservative MP for North West Hampshire Kit Malthouse was the most expensive MP attending the cabinet in 2020-21, with total costs of £244,312.

This was compared to £178,406 for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and £168,109 for Sir Keir Starmer.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "It’s important MPs have the resources to do their jobs, but many taxpayers will be worried about the soaring cost of politics.

“The electorate expects politicians to stay grounded and keep costs under control, particularly given the Covid pandemic saw many MPs and their staff work from home.

“With taxpayers facing a cost of living crisis, politicians should be doing their utmost to keep their spending down.”

Five largest types of costs were:

Winchester MP Steve Brine

1) Payroll – costing £126,171.46

2) Hotel - London – £10,644.68

3) Rent – £7,920.00

4) Bought-in services – £3,463.20

5) Postage & couriers – £3,124.89

He also spent £960.8 on a working from home allowance.

Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond

1) Payroll – costing £150,811.42

2) Bought-in services – £18,712.50

3) Pooled Staffing Services – £3,049.00

4) Stationery & printing – £1,869.83

5) Equipment - purchase – £1,470.25

She also spent £1,282.41 on a working from home allowance.

Romsey and Southampton North MP Caroline Nokes

1) Payroll – costing £146,178.06

2) Rent – £12,150.00

3) Postage & couriers – £11,166.86

4) Hotel - London – £6,588.00

5) Stationery & printing – £5,284.84

She also spent £935.07 on a working from home allowance.

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith

1) Payroll – costing £144,270.40

2) Rent – £10,935.50

3) Pooled Staffing Services – £3,047.00

4) Working From Home Allowance – £1,715.30

5) Stationery & printing – £1,687.83

Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead

1) Payroll – costing £162,264.61

2) Rent – £35,271.71

3) Pooled Staffing Services – £3,600.00

4) Rail – £2,762.40

5) Equipment - purchase – £2,555.16

He also spent £1,534.71 on a working from home allowance.

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Kimberley Barber