Members of Parliament
From Bolton Interweb
The most prominent Bolton MP in recent years has been Ruth Kelly. Ms Kelly is, unfortunately, standing down at the next election. Unfortunate because it denies the voters in her Bolton West constituency the opportunity to express their opinion about her attempt to claim £3,600 for a sofa and chairs, £2,355 for a dining table and chairs, and £2,000 for a flat screen television, all of which were reduced by the fees office. Not to mention a claim £31,000 for flood damage even though she had a building insurance policy. Remember that these expenses are supposed to be wholly and exclusively for MP's parliamentary duties. Ms Kelly has obviously not heard of Ikea, DFS, and Currys, but you have to feel some sympathy for someone afflicted with an educational deficiency that means they seriously think that a £2,000 TV is essential for their work. On the plus side, in 07-08, Kelly's expenses were a mere £115,844, one of the cheaper parliamentarians by far.
Bolton North West is represented by David Crausby, costing £147,942 in 2007-08, making him one of the more expensive MPs in England. The Telegraph claims that Crausby was allowed to borrow an additional £25,000 on his mortgage to refurbish his kitchen and bathroom last year increasing his mortgage interest claim by £400 a month. I suppose £25k for kitchen and bathroom refurbishment is a bit steep but not in the cringe category. Is he worth it? With a majority of only 4000, the betting is on him spending more time with his family from 2010.
Bolton South East's MP is Brian Iddon, costing a relatively modest £123,687 in 2007-08 and one of the few not to claim the full second home allowance. Iddon is retiring at the next election but it seems to be one of those rare cases of a genuine retirement due to age and not because of some iffy expenses. It is a pity to lose Dr Iddon at this time.
Neighbouring Bury North has the disgraced David Chaytor, spending a less than modest £156,209. Chaytor has, of course, been banned from standing again for Labour due to claims for a non-existent mortgage. A goner.
Bury South's Ivan Lewis had an overall bill of £165,670 in 2008 which, excluding Scottish and Northern Irish MPs who have exceptional travel requirements, puts him in the category of the 20 most expensive MPs. In fact in 2008 Lewis was the 40th most expensive MP in the Commons overall including the Scots and Northern Irish. Despite having been nobbled by No.10 smear artists in the past, admittedly deserved given his need to apologise to a Department of Health aide following inappropriate behaviour, Lewis continues to cling to his modest and undistinguished junior ministerial career, leading to speculation about his lack of spine. The ministerial salary seems more important than his principles. In a lot of danger and won't be missed. In February 2010 Lewis invited constituents to contribute towards his programme for change. Given he also had to pay back £2449 in overclaims, my contribution is to suggest Bury South changes its MP.
The best thing about Lewis is that he replaced one of the most appalling Tory MPs in 1997, David Sumberg, who when kicked out by Bury South voters promptly got himself on the Conservative European Parliament North West List (meaning you can't vote him personally out). From 2004 to 2008 Sumberg made only two speeches and gave twelve “explanations of votes” - a total of 536 words. Chris Davies MEP, said Sumberg would undoubtedly make the shortlist for Britain's laziest MEP. Sumberg paid his wife £54,000 per year from the staff allowance and claimed £40,000 per year in office expenses; he used the North West England Conservative Campaigns Centre as a forwarding address to his house in his north London, where he claimed the expenses. Sumberg retired as an MEP in 2009 but no-one noticed.
Another neighbour is Salford and Hazel Blears, responsible for spending a massive £164,791. Blears seems to have got herself into a bit of a mess on the expenses front, accused of home flipping although it would appear to have been on the instructions of the Fees Office. Unfairly singled out by Gordon, given far worse offenders in the inner sanctum, Blears needs to campaign hard for her constituents to undo enough of the damage to survive. But if anyone can do that, she can, and worth a fiver at the bookies. We need perky fighters in the House of Commons and she is in a minority when it comes to having the backbone to stand up to Gordon. Besides, resemblance to Squirrel Nutkin has to be a mitigating factor.
It would be nice to be more politically balanced, but the area is dominated by Labour MPs. Mr Sumberg is thrown in for good measure, and I could mention his Tory colleague and still a Euro MEP, Robert Atkins - also booted out of the House of Commons by the voters only to worm his way back onto the gravy train via the Conservative List. Overall, with the exception of Dr Iddon, Bolton and it's neighbouring constituencies has been very badly served by its current parliamentarians.
© Evrose, 2010
