Chief Whip and MP for Sherwood cost taxpayers £186,000 last year

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority stats reveal the Conservative MP's total business costs for the 2020-21 financial year as £185,961.88.

His costs were up slightly from £185,104.64 the year before, but also below average for all Members of Parliament, of £203,880.

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

Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury Mark Spencer, elected in May 2010, spent £173,500 on office running costs in 2020-21, including £153,700 on staff wages and £19,700 on other office expenditures.

He spent all of his accommodation budget (£7,200), and a further £5,300 on travel and subsistence.

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

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

Of the 265 individual claims made by Mark Spencer in 2020-21, the most expensive was staff payroll; £153,729.22, the smallest claim the 52-year-old made was 20p for stationery and printing.

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

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.

MPs' costs are usually broken down into categories, with staff pay almost always the largest expense.

Mark Spencer's five largest costs were payroll; costing £153,729.22, hotel London ;£7,221.26, rent; £6,187.28, rail; £4,921.90, stationery and printing; £4,672.52. £1,803.81 went on working from home allowances.

Mr Spencer said: “We have a great team of Conservative MP’s in Nottinghamshire who are all working hard to deliver for our area.

“We are all ably supported in this endeavour by our staff. They join us in working around the clock to ensure that we can get the best deal for Nottinghamshire from the Government.

“My staff and I work hard to keep costs low, whilst also delivering for the taxpayer. I hope that my constituents are seeing the fruits of our work.”

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