New figures show how much your Wirral MP spent last year

Data from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority shows that Wirral South MP Alison McGovern's total business costs for the 2020-21 financial year were £224,362.59, while Birkenhead MP Mick Whitley chalked up a total of £224,060.09.

Alison McGovern's costs were down from £286,876.30 the year before, but above the average for all Members of Parliament, of £203,880.

By comparison, Darren Henry, a Conservative MP for Broxtowe, had costs of £280,900 last year, while Philip Hollobone, the member for Kettering, had just £80,700.

Mick Whitley's costs were up from £42,933.62 the year before, when he first became a member of parliament.

Alison McGovern, who was elected in May 2010, spent £197,200 on office running costs in 2020-21, including £180,200 on staff wages and £17,000 on other office expenditures.

And she spent £19,500 of her accommodation budget (of £28,400), and a further £7,700 on travel and subsistence.

Mick Whitley, who was elected in December 2019, spent £198,200 on office running costs in 2020-21, including £169,800 on staff wages and £28,300 on other office expenditures.

Clockwise from top left: Wirral MPs Margaret Greenwood, Angela Eagle, Mick Whitley and Alison McGovern

He also spent £21,900 of his accommodation budget (of £23,000), and a further £4,000 on travel and subsistence.

Elsewhere in the borough, Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood cost the taxpayer around £194,000 last year, approximately £10,000 below the national average.

She spent £172,200 on office running costs in 2020-21, including £151,500 on staff wages and £20,700 on other office expenditures.

The Wirral West MP spent £21,200 of her accommodation budget (of £23,000), and a further £500 on travel and subsistence.

Wallasey MP Angela Eagle cost the taxpayer around £195,000 last year - the least of Wirral's four Labour MPs.

Her total business costs for the 2020-21 financial year were £195,287.44 - up from £177,783.3 the year before.

Elected in 1992, the borough's current longest-serving MP spent £188,200 on office running costs in 2020-21, including £161,500 on staff wages and £26,700 on other office expenditures.

She spent all of her accommodation budget of £5,400 and a further £1,700 on travel and subsistence.

The total costs of MPs last year rose by 4%, to £132.5 million, with almost £300,000 going on hotel claims for just 49 members.

Business costs are the essential costs incurred by MPs while carrying out their parliamentary duties including staffing, office costs and travel.

MPs cannot claim for personal costs, such as food and drink, during their normal working day, and all claims must be compliant with IPSA rules and accompanied by evidence.

IPSA’s chairman, Richard Lloyd, said compliance with the rules was at 99.7% last year.

He added: “By far the largest area of spending is to pay for the salaries of MPs’ staff.

"In the last financial year MPs and their staff changed how they work to provide their constituents with a service during the pandemic.

“We enabled MPs’ staff to work from home, while the amount spent on parliamentary business travel fell to reflect different working patterns."