Between rent, travel and stays in hotels, how much did Cheshire West’s MPs claim on expenses last year?
Since the 2009 scandal the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority was created to bring transparency and regain the trust of the public.
Each MP’s claims are now laid bare on the IPSA website and the reports for the 2015-16 financial year have recently been released in full.
So how did the Cheshire West quartet of Chris Matheson, Justin Madders, Graham Evans and Antoinette Sandbach fare?
We break down the totals for each parliamentary representative below.
Note: Significant claims from all four MPs went to either the Parliamentary Resource Unit (PRU) or the Parliamentary Research Service (PRS).
The PRU is described on its website as a ‘not-for-profit pooled research facility offering efficiency savings and subject expertise to Conservative MPs’, with the PRS the Labour Party equivalent.
Chris Matheson
Chris Matheson won the Chester constituency for the Labour Party last May after an incredibly tight victory over the Conservatives' Stephen Mosley.
In his first year, Mr Matheson claimed £35,449.87 worth of expenses, dominated largely by rent costs.
His biggest receipt was his subscription to the Parliamentary Research Service, worth £4,800.
Smaller bills included the purchase of a mobile phone and printer cartridges for his constituency office.
Justin Madders
Justin Madders took over the Ellesmere Port and Neston constituency from veteran Andrew Miller in 2015.
He claimed the lowest total of the Cheshire West MPs with £31,959.22 for the financial year.
Mr Madders’s largest individual claim was for the £1,408.33 monthly rent instalments for his London accommodation.
The Labour representative had a much lower claim for his PRS subscription, £400.
Minor claims included office stationery and petrol to get him to and from an ITV interview in Salford.
Graham Evans
Graham Evans has been the Conservative MP for Weaver Vale, which covers Frodsham and Helsby, since 2010.
The only non-newcomer of the four, he claimed the most with £52,886.24 worth of expenses from May 2015 onwards, though some of this was outstanding from before the General Election on May 7. From June onwards the total was £44,357.71.
His largest single bill was a subscription to the Parliamentary Resource Unit, totalling £2,977.
Again a significant part of Mr Evans’s expenditure went on rent for both accommodation and his constituency office at The Innovation Centre in Daresbury.
Other claims include a stay in a Brussels hotel for an MPs trip and newspaper advertising space.
Antoinette Sandbach
Antoinette Sandbach was also in her first year as an MP, taking over from Stephen O’Brien in Eddisbury.
The Conservative representative had £40,064.30 of expenses claims to her name between the 2015 election and March 2016.
PRU costs were again the most expensive bill with Ms Sandbach claiming £2,685 for its use.
She claimed for a hotel in the London area until July, before finding rental accommodation.
Smaller expenses included a waste bin for her constituency and a dongle to use the internet on the move.
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