Colin Challen said his senior researcher did 'not fall within the category of a business associate' and was not a relative or partnerMr Challen, the MP for Morley and Rothwell, sold the flat to Tina Davy in 2006 but rented it regularly until November 2007. Since then, he has stayed in hotels in London.
Although the Green Book states that the second home allowance must not be claimed for leasing accommodation from “close business associates”, partners or family, Mr Challen said the fees office approved the claim.
He said his senior researcher did “not fall within the category of a business associate” and was not a relative or partner.
Mr Challen bought the flat in the Pimlico apartment block for £175,000 in 2001, shortly after he was elected to Parliament.
Five years later, he sold the flat to Miss Davy for £210,000, which was the market price. Mr Challen said he paid capital gains tax on the £35,000 profit.
After the sale, the MP paid Miss Davy for “accommodation at £60 per night” for up to 14 nights a month and also claimed about £130 a month for food. For October and November 2007, the price rose to £70 a night. In the past 18 months, Mr Challen claimed for stays in hotels, which cost about £160 a night.
“I think all my claims have been justified and not only conform to the letter but the spirit of the rules,” said Mr Challen. “I now stay in a hotel, and have done so for nearly a year and a half.”
He announced that he was standing down at the next election. A new seat — Morley and Outwood — was being created from Mr Challen’s seat in West Yorkshire and the neighbouring Normanton constituency of Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.
Although at first Mr Challen, 55, said he would fight for selection in the new seat, he decided to let Mr Balls stand unopposed.
Mr Challen said: “I sold my flat because boundary changes had made my future as an MP uncertain and I had a buyer. I was able to rent from the buyer whilst I considered what my accommodation needs were, and did so at a considerable saving to the public purse.”
Mr Challen, who is unmarried, said he would leave parliament to campaign against climate change. He has been a member of the Commons’ environmental audit committee since shortly after he was elected and also sits on the energy and climate change select committee.
Miss Davy, 47, lists public affairs work for The Davy Consultancy on the parliamentary register of interests. In March, she attended the worldwide conference on climate change in Copenhagen with Mr Challen and she also visited the European Space Agency in Frascati in Italy with the MP in 2007.
Colin Challen
Job: Labour MP for Morley and Rothwell
Salary: £64,766
Total second home claims
2004-05: £13,190
2005-06: £16,521
2006-07: £12,694
2007-08: £11,412
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