Our Wiltshire MPs' costs have been released by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. 

Coming in top spender, Devizes MP Danny Kruger cost the taxpayer around £227,430.89 last year, the new figures reveal.

The MP’s costs were drastically up from £65,540.29 the year before, and well above the average for all Members of Parliament, at £203,880.

Meanwhile Chippenham MP Michelle Donelan cost the taxpayer £215,083.39 last year.
The MP’s costs were up from £210,542.64 the year before, and also above the average.

In contrast, James Gray’s total business costs for the 2020-21 financial year were well below average at £184,833.35.

The MP’s costs were still up from £180,393.47 the year before.

And spending even less, was South West Wiltshire MP Andrew Murrison who cost the taxpayer £137,971.91 last year.

The MP’s costs were up from £130,182.15 the year before.

He wasn’t the lowest across the country though, with Philip Hollobone, the member for Kettering, costing just £80,700.

The total costs of MPs last year rose by 4%, to £132.5 million, with almost £300,000 going on hotel claims for just 49 members.

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 IPSA rules and accompanied by evidence.

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

He added: “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.”

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.”