Sunday Telegraph: MPs: the best and worst value revealed Our parliamentarians claim pounds 87 million in expenses. So what do we get for our money?

by ROBERT WATTS and BEN LEAPMAN

THE MPs who provide the best - and worst - value for taxpayers' money are revealed today.   

The Sunday Telegraph's league table exposes the politicians who do the least work while submitting the biggest expenses claims, as well as those who work the hardest for the lowest cost.

The best-value MP is shown to be Philip Hollobone, a backbench Conservative who has no staff at Westminster and handles all his own casework. He had the lowest expenses claim of any MP last year while maintaining an attendance record that is well above average.

At the other end of the table are two Left-wing rebels, Clare Short and George Galloway, who seldom take part in votes or speak in debates, yet who each claimed more than pounds 100,000 in expenses last year.

At his constituency surgery yesterday, Mr Hollobone said it was "nice to know'' he had been judged the best-value MP. "I attach a lot of importance to attending the chamber, making contributions to debates, and voting,'' he said. "I feel that if I am not there to vote on behalf of my constituents, nobody else can.''

Miss Short said: "My secretary and I are extremely good value. Your figures do not take account of the enormous amount of casework we do in the constituency. I don't attend the Commons more often because it has become a farce with MPs only ever voting with their party.'' Mr Galloway did not return our call.

MPs faced criticism last week when new figures showed that they shared a total of pounds 87 million in expenses last year, an increase of five per cent on the previous year.

Matthew Elliot, chief executive of the pressure group the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This league table blows apart the claim by MPs that they need more resources and more expenses so that they can   

perform better for their constituents. People should look at tables like this when they decide how to vote.''   

Our analysis is based on a House of Commons breakdown of how much was claimed by more than 640 MPs. We also take into account how hard each one works, as measured by their voting attendance; how often they speak in debates, and the number of written questions they put to ministers.

We exclude Cabinet ministers and opposition leaders, whose many official duties often take them away from Westminster. Also excluded are the Speaker, his deputies, and MPs who recently won their seats in by-elections.

Charles Kennedy, the former Liberal Democrat leader, is included as he was not a party leader in the period measured. His seat is in Scotland, where MPs say they are disadvantaged by the higher cost of travelling to far-flung constituencies, but the four worst performers in our table all sit for English seats within 120 miles of Westminster.

MPs are entitled to claim back money spent on travel, staff wages, postage, office equipment and the cost of running a second home. The money is paid on top of their basic salary of pounds 60,277 for backbenchers, more for ministers and government whips.

Some claim that money spent on staff and postage enables them to work harder for their constituents.   

The Parliamentary authorities have launched a legal attempt to stop The Sunday Telegraph using the Freedom of Information Act to obtain details of how much MPs claim for mortgage interest, hotel bills, furniture and groceries.