Great Yarmouth MP Brandon Lewis’s expenses revealed

Great Yarmouth’s MP had the second lowest expenses of any Norfolk MP last year.

Published by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), they show Norfolk and Waveney politicians claimed £60,000 more in expenses compared to the year before, a total of £1.72m. After staff costs, the biggest single expense claims for most MPs were for a subscription to parliamentary support bodies.

Brandon Lewis, MP for Great Yarmouth claimed a total of £156,995 and expenses were the second lowest after Keith Simpson’s in neighbouring Broadland.

Mr Lewis spent £6407 on hotels. In 2015 the former housing minister defended having expensed almost £15,000 for London hotel stays from 2014-15.

This year his claims for accommodation were the fourth largest for Norfolk and Waveney MPs. They included £8,600 on rented accommodation

His smallest expense was £4.22 on stationary. He also spent £542 on a shredder and £312 on blinds.

Conservative MPs expensed around £3,000 each a year for Policy Research Unit (PRU) membership.

That body is open to all Conservative MPs to join and pools researchers and staff so MPs do not have to employ their own researchers.