Khalid Mahmood stayed at five-star hotel with his girlfriend

The MP for Birmingham Perry Barr used the hotel as his second home after separating from his partner

The politician spent nine nights at The Bentley in Kensington over a four-week period in 2004, claiming a total of £1,350.

The hotel, part of the Waldorf Astoria Collection, was described in one review as a “riot of gold, marble, and silk, with staff who are more like servants”.

The MP for Birmingham Perry Barr used the hotel as his second home after separating from his partner Nasim Akhtar, with whom he shared a house in Wembley.

Mr Mahmood, 47, checked in with Elaina Cohen, then his girlfriend, under the names “Mr Khaled and Eleine Mahmood”.

Miss Cohen, a parliamentary assistant, separated from Mr Mahmood last year. Last month she accused Mahmood Hussain, a Labour councillor, of not supporting her attempts to become a fellow Birmingham city councillor because she was “too white and too Jewish”.

During their stay at the Bentley, the couple ordered room service breakfast, Evian water from the minibar and used the hotel telephone but charged only the cost of the accommodation.

Mr Mahmood claimed a further five nights at The Bentley last year at £175 a night, a total of £1,225. In contrast his Labour colleague David Drew stayed in the Premier Inn or Days Inn for £99 a night.

Mr Mahmood, who was elected as an MP in 2001, defended paying for the hotel on expenses saying he had looked around for a cheaper place to stay. “It was close to the Tube station and it was easy to get to parliament,” he said.

“You tell me how many hotels there are in London where you can get £175 rate and which are close to the Tube station?

“I tried looking for other places and that was the best I could get.

“Because I regularly stay there I get a special deal and that is a bloody good rate.”

Mr Mahmood said he no longer claimed for a second home in London, but charged only for hotels.

He said it was cheaper than having to pay for accommodation all year round.

“I gave up my London flat in December 2008,” he said.

“My additional cost allowance (ACA) was higher in 2006-07 than last year because I was paying rent and I did not think that it was good value.

“If you are running a property for the whole year even when you are not there, you are paying a lot. I think MPs should be given flats or hostels to stay in.

“I would be quite happy to do that.”

The Bentley, which comprises four private town houses originally built in 1880, charges £175 for a Queen Room, £210 for a Deluxe Twin and £265 for a King Junior Suite.

It describes itself as having 64 “luxuriously designed spacious rooms” with state-of-the-art television, satellite TV and high-speed internet access.

The hotel’s website adds: “The fully marbled ensuite bathrooms come complete with a walk-in shower and Jacuzzi, definitely the best in the town.”

In the expenses files seen by The Daily Telegraph, Mr Mahmood submitted four months of claims in 2004 without providing a second address. Yesterday he said he had been living at the house in Wembley with Miss Akhtar and had given the Fees Office his mortgage statement.

Mr Mahmood said: “I have never claimed for a TV set or a rug and I have never claimed for a moat.

“I have tried to play things with a straight bat.”

The Muslim MP, who was born in Kashmir, was criticised for supporting the war against Afghanistan in 2001.

Khalid Mahmood

Job: backbench Labour MP

Salary: £64,766

Total second home claims

2004-05: £19,678

2005-06: £21,634

2006-07: £22,110

2007-08: £17,900