Newbury MP Lee Dillon claims £36,000 expenses in first year of office, with Olivia Bailey claiming £5,000
The two West Berkshire MPs have listed their expenses – which are £30,000 apart.
Liberal Democrat MP for Newbury Lee Dillon has so far claimed £36,043.00.
That’s more than twice what his boss, the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey claimed. He claimed around £16,000.
Mr Dillon, who was newly elected at last year’s general election is claiming £4,000 a month in rent for a flat in London.
His offices, in Park Street, Newbury, are also charged out at between £2,000 and £3,000 a month.
He has bought a mobile phone for nearly £2,000 and a TV for about the same.
Staffing costs are put at £5,338.60 for Mr Dillon, who has claimed since August last year.
Whereas Olivia Bailey, the Labour MP for Reading West and Mid Berks has only claimed £5,070 for office costs and pooled staffing services.
Mr Dillon says the expenses are in line with Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority guidelines, which allows additional rent for those with children.
He has three children, and says he pays the energy bills. Ms Bailey has two children.
Both constituencies are ‘outside London’ and therefore qualify for accommodation claims, despite their proximity to London and the Houses of Parliament.
Yuan Yang, the newly elected Labour MP for Earley and Woodley who has been an MP since July 4, 2024, like Mr Dillon, has claimed £14,331; Clive Jones, newly elected Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham, has claimed £19,370; and Peter Swallow, newly elected Labour MP for Bracknell, has claimed £16,175.
MPs are elected to represent constituent interests and concerns at a national level.
They receive public funding which allows them to run a local office and employ staff and specific budgets are allocated to MPs to pay for these roles and activities.
MPs are paid an annual salary of £91,346, plus expenses.
