According to data from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, MPs have made almost 38,000 expenses claims from the start of 2024 until now, racking up a grand total of nearly £15.5m. Claims are made for everything from office supplies, property rent, and even a few Portcullis Tesco meal deals. But, as you’d expect, some are claiming significantly more than others.
Out of all major party leaders in England and Wales, Kemi Badenoch has claimed the most – almost double that of Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey. A major component of these claims is rent, £2,700 per month to be precise, on what is, presumably, her London apartment for her work-weeks in Westminster. Forming the remainder of her hefty bill are ads in SussexWorld, a Canva Pro subscription, some office stationery, and numerous banners.
PM Keir Starmer has claimed only £11,000 on expenses, over £8,000 of which was on a property in Camden prior to him becoming Prime Minister. In fact, since becoming PM, Starmer has only claimed £400. This has to be caveated by the fact that he doesn’t have to worry about renting a second home, and that much of his constituency casework will now be done by caseworkers.
Racking up just £6,000 between the two of them, the Green Party co-leaders have spent almost five times less than Kemi Badenoch, and half as much as Starmer. Albeit they’ve only been sitting MPs since July.
Leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, has submitted no expenses claims as of yet. There’s a chance he just hasn’t got round to it, as there’s significant lenience for MPs regarding the timeframe in which they must submit them. However, it is also possible, considering his lengthy gifts and hospitality register, and the fact that he earns over £1m from his other jobs, that he’s just decided to take the cost of some printer ink on the chin.
So, that’s the data for your party leaders; however, with the exception of Green co-leader Carla Denyer, those aren’t each party’s biggest spenders. The Conservatives’ priciest MP, and actually the biggest spender overall, is Karen Bradley, MP for Staffordshire Moorlands. Since the start of 2024, her claims have racked up to £47,000, almost £20,000 more than Badenoch. Whilst around two-thirds of this has been spent on rent and accommodation costs, that’s still a lot of stamps and staples to be getting through.
Labour’s highest spender is Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, MP for Bristol North. He also lands in second spot overall, with only around £500 less than Bradley. For the Lib Dems, it’s former party leader Tim Farron, clocking in at almost £41,000. And Reform’s Lee Anderson takes his party’s top spot, with almost £21,000 – not even half of Jones’ total expenses. Whilst Anderson’s are significantly higher than the rest of his party, he has been an MP for significantly longer than the rest of them.
Location is a significant factor for expense claims. MPs based outside London can claim a secondary, London based accommodation for their work-weeks in Westminster. This makes a huge difference to expenses, with the five highest spending MPs out of London racking up a phenomenal £226,000 between them.
In London, these figures are almost cut in half, summing up to just £133,000 across the top five spenders. Four of these are Labour MPs, most notably DEFRA secretary, Steve Reed, and Dawn Butler, the Member for Brent East.
All in all, MPs have racked up over £15.5m in claims in just 14 months. On a sizeable salary of £91,000, you have to begin to wonder if the taxpayer should really have to fork out for Darren Jones getting his landline driven from Bristol North to Westminster.
