A SOUTH Essex Conservative MP spent almost £6,000 on London hotels in the space of a year, the Echo can reveal.

Rayleigh and Wickford MP Mark Francois, who has represented the constituency since 2010, recorded 28 London hotel payments in 2020/2021 –with most bookings for multiple days during the week.

No other south Essex MP spent money on London accommodation or hotels in 2020/21, according to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the regulatory body for MPs’ expenses.

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However, other MPs may have second homes or other forms of accommodation in the capital which allow them to stay in London without commuting to and from Westminster every day.

Mr Francois serves on the Commons Defence Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and is chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) –a group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs.

Mr Francois stressed: “My overall expenses claims are in the mid-range of our local MPs.”

When quizzed by the Echo on why he needed to stay in hotels rather than commute by train, he said: “As well as my constituency duties, I serve on two major cross-party Parliamentary committees, which, cumulatively, often involves working late into the evening, midweek.”

Mr Francois claimed a total of £15,762.44 in expenses across the financial year, IPSA records state.

He claimed  £5,766 for 28 hotel stays between March and December ranging from £79 to £355.

The MP’s largest outgoing was staffing costs, claiming £7,492 on secretarial and support services for constituency surgeries and policy research.
He claimed £1,348.80 for 12 months advertising of his constituency surgeries in regional newspapers.

To cover staff travel, Mr Francois claimed £56.50 for five separate rail journeys in November and a further £236.20 for a plane ticket for himself from Heathrow to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in September.

In the financial year 2020/21, MPs across the country were entitled to up to £10,000 under the IPSA Work From Home scheme.

This helped MPs and their staff to pivot to working from home during the pandemic.

Of the serving south Essex MPs, Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price’s costs for adapting to working from home were the highest, at £1,643.03.
Mr Francois claimed £1,201.26 under this scheme.

Rochford and Southend East MP, Sir James Duddridge, who was given £1,314.69 under the same scheme, said: “During the pandemic, traditional office working was no longer possible. 

“To ensure my team and I could continue assisting my constituents, we had to adapt to working from home.

“The claims submitted under the Work From Home Allowance were entirely for my staff and enabled them to work safely with the equipment and tools they needed to ensure my office stayed open at this crucial time.”