North East Somerset MP Jacob Rees-Mogg cost the taxpayer around £168,000 last year, new figures reveal.
Figures from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority show the Conservative MP’s total business costs for the 2020-21 financial year were £167,578.17.
The MP’s costs were up from £142,788.35 the year before, but well below the 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, the member for Kettering, had just £80,700.
Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was elected in May 2010, spent £167,600 on office running costs in 2020-21, including £163,700 on staff wages and £3,900 on other office expenditures.
But he incurred no accommodation costs during this time, nor any on travel and subsistence.
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.”
The IPSA figures also reveal the eleven individual claims made by Jacob Rees-Mogg in 2020-21, with the most expensive single claim being for staff payroll – £163,696.36.
At the other end of the scale, the smallest one-off expense the 52-year-old claimed was £3.24 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.
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.”
MPs’ costs are usually broken down into dozens of categories, with staff pay almost always the largest expense.
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s five largest types of costs were:
1) Payroll – costing £163,696.36
2) Pooled Staffing Services – £2,000.00
3) Working From Home Allowance – £1,246.68
4) Stationery & printing – £505.68
5) Venue hire, meetings & surgeries – £129.45.
Bath MP, Wera Hobhouse, had costs of £226,000 last year. The MP’s five largest types of costs were:
1) Payroll – costing £170,602.66
2) Rent – £28,878.93
3) Pooled Staffing Services – £5,575.00
4) Moving Fees – £3,054.00
5) Service charge & ground Rent – £2,551.39
She also spent £1,895.54 on a working from home allowance.