Colchester MP Will Quince's expenses revealed

The Colchester MP, who recently resigned from his ministerial role, made expense claims totalling £37,243.61 excluding his payroll costs, which totalled £148,640.70.

This included £15,850 on rent, £731.25 for car travel, £4.50 parking charge at Colchester Hospital for a member of staff and £3.20 to park in Colchester city centre.

Mr Quince also reclaimed his share of the council tax on the London home he shares with North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, totalling £1,383.

In total Essex MPs have claimed almost £4million in expenses in the last financial year.

The expense bill for the county's 18 all-Conservative MPs totalled nearly £3.9million in the 2022-23 financial year, records from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority reveal.

The basic salary for an MP last year was £84,144 a year, which was increased by just under three per cent in April this year, while those with Cabinet positions receive an extra £67,505 a year.

Staffing accounts for the majority of MPs' expense claims, with payroll totalling almost 87 per cent of the Essex MPs' expense bills, leaving more than £509,000 split between other categories including accommodation, travel, and office costs.

The Essex MPs with the biggest expense accounts (not including payroll)

Dame Eleanor Laing

Dame Eleanor Laing, the MP for Epping Forest and deputy speaker, had the largest expense account in the 2022-23 financial year, claiming £47,079.79, excluding staffing costs.

Dame Eleanor Laing

Unlike many of her colleagues, all of these expenses fall under the office costs category.

This includes £159 for a TV licence for her constituency office and £779 to buy a new iPhone.

Sir John Whittingdale

Sir John Whittingdale, the MP for Maldon who also holds ministerial positions in the science and culture departments, was not far behind with claims totalling £45,754.65.

The majority of this was rent totalling £26,130 for his personal accommodation.

Sir John reclaimed £955 for congestion charges and toll roads, £1,748 for an iPad Pro and keyboard, and £1,399 for an Apple laptop.

Kemi Badenoch

Saffron Walden MP and Business Secretary Kemi Badeonch made non-staffing claims totalling £45,048.01.

More than £30,000 of this was for accommodation, including a £756 claim for council tax, and a nominal £55 for taxis.

Vicky Ford

Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford's expense bill totalled £44,949.35, excluding payroll for her staff.

About £23,000 of this was for accommodation, while £18,861 was claimed for office costs including £6,921 in rent for her constituency office.

Sir Bernard Jenkin

Harwich and North Essex MP Sir Bernard Jenkin's non-payroll expenses in the last financial year totalled £40,739.30.

Sir Bernard Jenkin

His office costs included subscriptions to New Scientist magazine, and the Independent, Scotsman, Mail, Guardian, and Sun newspapers, but sadly not his local newspapers the Daily Gazette and Harwich & Manningtree Standard.

Anna Firth

The non-staffing expenses for Anna Firth, the MP for Southend West, totalled £34,726.19.

Claims included £1,265.20 for travel, as well as a subscription to her local newspaper, the Echo.

Giles Watling

Clacton MP Giles Watling claimed £33,172.82 in non-staffing expenses in the last financial year.

This included £120 for a new desk in his constituency office and almost £17,000 on hotel stays.

Sir James Duddridge

Rochford and Southend East MP Sir James Duddridge, who has announced he will be stepping down at the next General Election, made expense claims totalling £31371.47, not including his payroll costs.

This included £1,254.76 in train tickets. Like his neighbouring MP Anna Firth he also claimed for a subscription to his local newspaper.

James Cleverly

New Home Secretary and Braintree MP claimed £29,239.86, excluding his staffing costs.

James Cleverly (Image: Leon Neal/PA Wire)

His expense claims included the council tax on his constituency home and more than £1,800 in stationary and printing costs.

Jackie Doyle-Price

The expense bill for Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price was £23,106.35, excluding her payroll costs.

Almost £800 was claimed for flight tickets, while £1,887 was spent at Apple in December 2022.

John Baron

Basildon and Billericay MP John Baron's non-staffing claims totalled £21,924.13.

This included a £700 payment to a removal company during an office move and £68.99 to redirect the post from his old office to his new one.

Robert Halfon

Robert Halfon, the MP for Harlow, made expense claims totalling £20,591.72 excluding payroll for his staff.

This included £529.20 to pay for his constituency office to be cleaned.

Stephen Metcalfe

South Basildon and East Thurrock MP Stephen Metcalfe claimed expenses totalling £16,568.51 excluding salaries for his staff.

Like Dame Eleanor Laing, this was made up purely of office costs including rent of £6,900 and £70 for a constituency surgery advert.

Mark Francois

Mark Francois, the MP for Rayleigh and Wickford, claimed £13,415.14 in expenses excluding his staffing costs.

This was made up of £8,922 in hotel costs and £44.11 in train tickets, with the remainder made up of office costs and travel for his staff.

Dame Priti Patel

Witham MP and former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel had the third lowest expense bill, with her non-staffing expenses totalling £11,122.59.

Her claims included just over £10,000 in office costs, including £963 to buy a new office computer, with the rest of her expenses covering travel for her staff.

Rebecca Harris

Rebecca Harris, the MP for Castle Point, was the Essex MP with the second lowest non-staffing expenses in 2022-23, with claims totalling £9,958.89.

Like Stephen Metcalfe and Dame Eleanor Laing, her claims were solely for office costs, including £825 a month in rent.

Alex Burghart

Finally, Alex Burghart, the MP for Brentwood had the smallest expense bill of the 18 Essex MPs, with non-staffing costs amounting to £3,364.10.