02 Jun Inside the explosive investigation into MP’s finances
by Simon Phetter
NEARLY one in two outgoing MPs own a second home for rental purposes, even though many Britons are struggling to get on the property ladder.
In an exclusive investigation by freelance journalist Chris White, 650 Members of Parliament own 273 properties, which they rent out for more than £10,000 a year per property. 198 of these properties are based in London and worth a combined £100 million, a conservative estimate based on UK average house prices.
All the figures found in this investigation have come from the Register of Members’ Financial Interests 20016/17 and include subject areas such as how much the media paid MPs in appearances, newspaper articles and columns.
The BBC and Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers – The Sun, Sunday Times and The Times – have spent a combined £200,000 in the last financial year on MPs, including £24,000 on appearance fees for the BBC show Have I Got News For You.
The investigation also looked at family members being employed by MPs, especially wives or husbands, which is a controversial policy being reviewed by the current government.
Of the 650 MPs last in office, 136 employed a family member, virtually all of them were their partners, and used as secretaries, assistants or researchers.
All the results have been published on www.thisischriswhite.com
