THE cost to the taxpayer of Herefordshire's two Conservative MPs have been revealed – with one costing a lot more than the other.

North Herefordshire MP Sir Bill Wiggin, 55, cost the taxpayer about £197,000 last year, new figures reveal.

In comparison, Hereford and South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman, who held a ministerial position for part of the year, was one of the cheapest.

Figures from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority showed Sir Bill's total business costs for the 2020-21 financial year were £197,438.23.

The MP's costs were up from £177,947.72 the year before, and 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.

But Jesse Norman's total business costs for the 2020-21 year were £118,679.16 – almost £80,000 less that Sir Bill.

His costs were up from £113,391.8 the year before, but were one of the lowest of all members of parliament in the UK.

With 152 individual claims, Sir Bill Wiggin's five largest types of costs were:

  1. Payroll – costing £175,428.92
  2. Stationery & printing – £3,894.72
  3. Mileage - car – £3,282.84
  4. Pooled Staffing Services – £3,047.00
  5. Council tax – £2,248.98

He also spent £1,712.11 on a working from home allowance.

Making 87 individual claims, Jesse Norman's five largest types of costs were:

  1. Payroll – costing £76,624.65
  2. Bought-in services – £20,676.87
  3. Rent – £6,495.00
  4. Pooled Staffing Services – £3,047.00
  5. Cleaning services – £1,604.15

He also spent £875.07 on a working from home allowance.

Sir Bill did not respond to the Hereford Times when asked about his expenses, but Jesse Norman, 59, said bought-in services related to staffing, and pooled staffing services referred to the annual subscription paid to the Policy Research Unit (PRU) for policy briefings on specific issues.

"Neither of these items is at all unusual or controversial," he said, adding his expenses were among the "very lowest" of all MPs.

"None of these expenses relates to me personally. I have never charged the taxpayer for any personal expenses I have incurred as an MP."

The total costs of MPs last year rose by 4 per cent, 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 per cent 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 average cost of an MP was up 29 per cent, 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."