• Regulators say that up to 2% of staffing budgets can go towards bonus payments to staff under the so-called “rewards and recognition” scheme.
• Two South Wales Labour MPs spent thousands of pounds within a penny of the limits in of taxpayer-funded cheques given to staffers in the 2020-21 financial year.
• New figures also show Labour Whip Chris Elmore MP and Tory Virginia Crosbie were the most expensive politicians last year.
Image: Labour MP Carolyn Harries spent the maximum allowed on staff ‘bonus’ payments.
Twenty-six generous MPs in Wales gave out tens-of-thousands of taxpayer money in staff bonuses, revealed in new expenses figures released last week.
Payments for “rewards and recognition” totalling £74,460 were given out by 26 out of the 41 Welsh MPs in the 2020-21 financial year according to new figures published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
Under the IPSA rules governing expense claims, set out in the wake of a series of exposés from The Telegraph in 2009, MPs are allowed to give out up to 2% of their staffing budget in bonuses to staff “in recognition of outstanding performance.
The biggest payouts were given by Welsh Labour MPs, Carolyn Harris MP for Swansea East and Anna McMorrin MP for Cardiff North. Both politicians gave payments totalling £3,551 to their staff.
This number might appear strangely specific but £3,551 is exactly 2% of the standard non-London area budget of £194,030 for that year, meaning Harris and McMorrin gave within a penny of the rules.
IPSA are quick to correct the assumption that money given as a reward and recognition for good work can be described as a bonus payment because “payments must be modest”, which is to say limited to £1,000 in cash a year.
In comparison, minimum wage care workers were given a one-off £500 bonus due to their work on the frontline during the covid crisis.
Of the 26 Welsh MPs giving bonuses 17 were Labour politicians, 7 belonged to the Tory party, and two Plaid Cymru.
Elsewhere the figures show how much each Welsh MP costs the public purse. Is your MP in the top 10 most expensive?
| Ranking | Member of Parliament | Affiliation | Constituency | Overall Spend 2020-21 |
| 1st | Chris Elmore | Labour | Ogmore | £253,596.16 |
| 2nd | Virginia Crosbie | Conservative | Ynys Môn | £253,395.37 |
| 3rd | Fay Jones | Conservative | Brecon and Radnorshire | £242,106.16 |
| 4th | Carolyn Harris | Labour | Swansea East | £239,806.15 |
| 5th | Tonia Antoniazzi | Labour | Gower | £237,711.20 |
| 6th | Anna McMorrin | Labour | Cardiff North | £235,802.24 |
| 7th | Jamie Wallis | Conservative | Bridgend | £235,312.43 |
| 8th | Alex Davies-Jones | Labour | Pontypridd | £234,812.53 |
| 9th | Sarah Atherton | Conservative | Wrexham | £233,606.68 |
| 10th | David Davies | Conservative | Monmouth | £232,879.89 |
Chris Elmore, Labour MP for Ogmore since 2016, has come out as the most expensive politician for the public to keep. His most public contribution in 2020 was an attempt to pressure Westminster into cutting out devolved governments from new coronavirus policymaking.
Among Elmore’s purchases were over £600 on cleaning services, compared to Virginia Crosbie MP spending £350 and Fay Jones MP paying £20.
The MP for Ynys Môn, Conservative Virginia Crosbie, also lived well at the expense of the public being one of the minority of UK parliamentarians to claim back utilities for her private residence. Crosbie latertold press that she stopped adding her gas and electric to our bill at the beginning of the 2021 financial year
Third most expensive according to the new figures was Fay Jones, the Tory representative for Brecon and Radnorshire, who in February 2020 was caught lining her pockets with thousands of pounds she was quietly receiving from a local bottled-water tycoon.
The stats also show that Welsh Tories were significantly more expensive to keep than other parties for the period, with the average Conservative in Wales costing the taxpayer £219,960. The average Welsh Labour politician spent £208,992 and for Plaid Cymru MPs was £205,164. This is on top of a basic salary of £81,932.
The most frugal MP was Johnathan Edwards, representing the Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency, costing only £157,520. Not long into the financial year he accepted a caution from police for assault concerning a domestic matter, causing his suspension from Plaid Cymru and affecting his political activity.
Edwards has not updated his website with information on his work in the constituency. At time of writing the website listed as belonging to his office on the Parliament database redirects to the homepage of Adam Price MS, leader of Plaid.
No expense claims are recorded for the set-up of a new site in its place despite having a roster of six staff in his office during the same period, although this is less than previous years. Edwards had around ten office staff on our payroll from 2014 until his split from Plaid.
However the Independent MP is still making frequent trips to London, managing to rack up a bill for £10,643 for hotels in the city during the year.
Christina Rees, Labour MP for Neath, and Ban Lake, Plaid MP for Ceredigion, both also managed to keep their expenses comparably low against their peers, spending £165,849 and £167,942 respectively.
Also within the figures is a £758 website design spend from Labour’s Rhondda MP Chris Bryant and Tory MP Robin Millar billing the public for £18,519 for accommodation rent and bills.
