Salary and Staff & Office Costs
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On receiving the MP's salary and in order to be a full-time MP, Edward resigned his previous job on 2nd May 1997 and has taken no other salary since.
Like last year, Edward found the office cost allowance of £49,232 was insufficient to pay for an efficient constituency office. By the time two full-time salaries have been met, as well as his share of rent and rates on the Surbiton premises, there is little left over to pay for the other basic running costs of electricity, telephone and standard office equipment expenses such as a photocopier, computers, printers and faxes. Inevitably, the difference is made up from salary.
Edward opted for claims against the Additional Cost Allowance rather than an additional London weighting to his own salary, to cover any additional costs he incurred at Westminster such as general expenses and accommodation when the House of Commons sat late. On travel, Edward mostly used the train between Surbiton & Waterloo, and received a free travelcard for this. As in the previous year, he made no claim for car mileage last year.
Edward made one foreign trip in 1998/9 - to the European Commission in Brussels for one night. The aim was to review the first two months of the operation of the Euro, as part of his responsibilities as a Treasury Spokesman for the Liberal Democrats. Each MP has one trip to an EU institution paid for each year, though Edward did not use this the previous year.
What you pay me
MPs received the following salary & allowances in 1998/99:
Ministers receive extra pay.
* Not claimed by Edward, 98/99
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