Cash secrets of the politicians who keep it in the family

An investigation has established that many of the MPs – more than 200 in total – who employ relatives have been able to claim extra expenses as a result of the arrangement.

Some have been able to claim money for a main home, in addition to their second home, because their spouse works there on parliamentary business.

Others have been paid from public funds for items for spouses, or have taken advantage of second home allowances to provide relatives with a free place to stay.

One MP was allowed to claim taxpayers’ money to run a “constituency office” 330 miles from his constituency.

Today’s disclosures will add to the furore over the use of parliamentary expenses and put more MPs under pressure to repay money.

Yesterday, two MPs named in the Telegraph investigation – Andrew Mackay, David Cameron’s former parliamentary aide, and Ian McCartney, the former Labour Party Chairman – announced that they were leaving parliament at the next election.

Mr Mackay’s wife Julie Kirkbride, also a Conservative MP, is among those whose expense claims are highlighted today. She allowed her brother to stay rent-free at the couple’s taxpayer-funded apartment in Bromsgrove, West Midlands. Tory sources insisted that no rules had been broken.

Two other Labour MPs, Linda Gilroy and David Kidney, said yesterday that they were paying back £1,891 and £2,450 respectively after errors involving claims for council tax. Neither has yet featured in the Telegraph investigation.

Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, faced criticism after claiming that the “systematic humiliation” of MPs was a threat to Britain’s democracy. John Mann, a Labour MP who has published his own expenses details for four years, said: “I totally disagree with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The public has a right to know.

“If Parliament and the political parties handle this well, a lot of good will come out of this.” An ICM opinion poll showed that two-thirds of voters want Gordon Brown to call a general election before Christmas.

Today’s disclosures include:

Malcolm Bruce, the president of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, was able to claim thousands of pounds towards the running of both his London flat and his constituency home in Scotland. The MP, whose wife, Rosemary, works for him from their home on Deeside, was paid nearly £3,100 towards his Scottish home as well as more than £61,186 for his London home between April 2005 and March 2008.

Derek Conway, the MP who lost the Conservative whip after he employed his son at Westminster, despite there being no evidence that he did any work, spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on two family homes. He was allowed to claim taxpayers’ money on a family house in Northumberland after telling Commons officials he did parliamentary work there, even though it is 330 miles away from his Commons seat of Old Bexley and Sidcup, in south-east London.

Michael Clapham, a Labour MP, claimed £210 for a pair of glasses for his wife, Yvonne, on his taxpayer-funded office allowance. Mrs Clapham works for him as his assistant. He also claimed £64.93 on the office budget for dinner services and £19.97 for an iron.

The disclosures raise further questions about the system that allows MPs to employ family members at a total cost to the taxpayer estimated at up to £5.8 million a year. Other legislatures, including the United States Congress, the European Parliament and national parliaments in several European countries, have passed measures banning elected representatives from employing relatives.

Last night Mr Mackay, after being summoned to a meeting with Mr Cameron yesterday, said he would not stand as a candidate for Bracknell at the next election because he did not want to be a “distraction”. The MP, who was barracked by voters at a meeting in his constituency on Friday night, said: “I understand why people are angry. I hope my decision to step down goes some way to showing my constituents how sorry I am about my own situation.”

Mr McKay earlier stepped down as Mr Cameron’s aide after an internal Tory investigation established that he and his wife were making claims that meant they effectively had two second homes, both funded with public money.

Mr McCartney, meanwhile, said he had “agonised over a truly traumatic decision of retiring early from the only job I have ever loved”. His friends said he was quitting as MP for health reasons, linked to heart surgery two years ago. Mr McCartney spent £16,000 furnishing and decorating his designated second home but paid the money back two years later.