£10m payouts for former MPs

Former MPs who retired or lost their seats at the General Election were today revealed to be sharing more than £10m in golden goodbyes.

The 218 MPs who stood down on May 6 have received an average of £47,706 — with the first £30,000 of the windfall tax-free, as part of a one-off Resettlement Grant.

Departing MPs are receiving the grant which is 50-100 per cent of their annual salary, dependent on their age and length of service.

The payout is in addition to a generous parliamentary pension. It is not known how much of the entitlement has been accepted by the former MPs but critics today said the golden goodbyes were too high.

According to research and calculations by the Taxpayers' Alliance, former deputy speaker and Halesowen and Rowley Regis MP Sylvia Heal will be paid £43,393.22 after she retired.

Bruce George, who stood down as Walsall South MP after 36 years, gets £49,222.16. He has been replaced by Valerie Vaz. Defeated Wolverhampton South West MP Rob Marris, who served eight years in the House of Commons, is entitled to £32,383. He lost his seat to Conservative Paul Uppal.

The same payout will go to retired Wolverhampton North East Labour MP Ken Purchase, who served 18 years, and to South Staffs Tory Sir Patrick Cormack, who retired after 36 years representing his constituency.

Stourbridge's former Labour MP Lynda Waltho also gets the payout after serving just one term.

The highest pay out in the West Midlands went to Birmingham MP Clare Short, a former secretary of state for international development, and Cannock Chase's Tony Wright, who both stepped down and will receive £64,766.

Labour's David Kidney, who was defeated by Conservative Jeremy LeFroy in Stafford after 13 years in office, gets £54,403.44. Ian Pearson, who stood down as Dudley South MP after claiming politics ruined his marriage will rec- eive £44,040.88. His seat fell to the Tories in the election on May 6.

Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon, former cabinet ministers who were caught up in the lobbying row where they were filmed offering their services to provide access to MPs for money, will get £54,403 and £64,766 respectively.

John O'Connell, Policy Analyst at the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "This vast sum of money will be frustrating for taxpayers, particularly after the expenses scandal.

"MPs should be aware that they are entering a contract with a fixed term — if they're voted out it's the end of the contract, not a redundancy.

"Besides, most of the MPs receiving this payment stood down voluntarily. The current recommendations for changing the system do not go far enough."