Taxpayers' money spent on renting constituency offices from Labour
Taxpayers' money is being spent on renting offices from the Labour Party.
Twelve Labour MPs including Ellie Reeves, the Labour chairman, have constituency offices in buildings owned by Labour.
In total, more than £1.1 million has been spent by the taxpayer on rent for these 12 properties since 2010.
Dame Emily Thornberry, the former shadow attorney general, has claimed the most from the taxpayer in that period: £263,983 for her constituency office in Islington, north London, according to Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) filings.
Labour Party Nominees Ltd bought the building in 1992 for an undisclosed amount.
Ms Reeves claims almost £16,000 a year in expenses for rent on her Lewisham office, which has been owned by the Labour Party since 2007.
In most cases, MPs are leasing offices in buildings that the Labour Party owns outright, meaning that the money they claim on expenses is not needed to service a mortgage.
The Labour Party has two companies that are listed as the owners of at least 80 properties across the UK. The Telegraph understands that one of these – Labour Party Nominees Ltd – owns a number of MPs' constituency offices, but does not receive the rental income.
Instead, the company licences the buildings to constituency Labour parties, organisations made up of Labour Party members, and they receive the rental income from the MPs.
MPs also rent from Tory Party
Some high-profile Conservative MPs are also renting from their local party, including Kemi Badenoch. The party leader claimed more than £11,000 in rent from the taxpayer for her office in Saffron Walden. The Telegraph understands that an independent valuation was recently carried out.
Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, has claimed more than £49,000 since 2015 to pay for an office that is owned by the trustees of the Fareham Conservative Association.
MPs are allowed to rent offices from political parties under Parliamentary rules. However, their contracts are subject to a formal valuation of the market rate by the IPSA, which MPs must stick to.
When approached by the Telegraph the regulator refused to reveal when it last carried out valuations for these offices.
Campaigners branded the practice 'extremely questionable' and called for an overhaul of the Parliamentary rules which allow it.
John O'Connell, the chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Whether or not this is in breach of any rules, this is an extremely questionable practice given it essentially funnels taxpayer cash into political parties.
'IPSA should consider new rules which clearly state that spaces should not be rented from political parties.'
Numbers involved unclear
This landlord relationship between MPs and their parties is often opaque because many parliamentarians do not publish the address of their constituency office, citing security concerns.
As a result, it is unclear how many MPs are funnelling taxpayers' money to their local parties.
Most of the premises in question are in buildings that are already used as political party offices, and have very prominent signage likely to diminish their value to other potential tenants.
Andy Slaughter, the MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick, charges the taxpayer £10,875 a year for an office in a Labour Party office building painted red, with a large Labour sign on the outside of the building.
Mr Slaughter said he had looked at alternative options for an office and the rent was 'substantially more expensive'. He added that the rent had not increased for a number of years 'and therefore represents a significantly lower cost than market rental'.
A Labour Party spokesman said: 'All Labour MPs' constituency offices are rented in full compliance with the rules set out by the independent Parliamentary watchdog, IPSA. The suggestion that the Labour Party is profiting from MPs' rent expenses is categorically incorrect.
'The value of the rent paid by MPs is rightly overseen by IPSA, who ensure that rent does not exceed fair market value through independent valuation of contracts.'
A Conservative Party spokesman said: 'This is entirely in keeping with the rules set out by the IPSA, and is all transparently and properly declared.'
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