Revealed: Rachel Reeves is among 41 Labour MPs charging YOU for council tax on second homes_Nhy
Rachel Reeves was one of 41 Labour ministers who charged taxpayers for their second-home council tax bills last year – with claims from all MPs totalling more than £500,000.
As households brace for further council tax hikes this year, critics said the expenses claims showed politicians were living in ‘splendid isolation’ from ordinary voters.
And they said it was ‘morally questionable’ for well-paid ministers, earning six-figure sums, to ask taxpayers to foot the bill.
Under the rules, MPs are entitled to put the costs for energy, utilities, internet and council tax at their second home on expenses. Many MPs have properties in both London and their constituencies.
But the sizeable sum comes at a time when households are struggling to make ends meet – and council tax bills will rise by up to 5 per cent for many in April.
Some 316 MPs claimed for council tax totalling £506,000 in 2023-24, according to analysis by the i paper of Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) data.
The figure is up from £480,000 the previous year, and brings the total claimed since 2019 to £2.6 million.
Fifteen members of Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet claimed for council tax in 2023-24. In all, 41 ministers made claims – totalling £58,000 for the cost of second-home council tax.
Rachel Reeves (pictured) was one of 41 Labour ministers who charged taxpayers for their second-home council tax bills last year
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds claimed more than any other Labour minister since 2019 – with his council tax bills amounting to £14,800 since the start of the last parliament
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has also claimed £13,400 for council tax since 2019
Other senior MPs who have put second-home council tax on expenses include Deputy PM Angela Rayner (left), Energy Secretary Ed Miliband (centre) and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens (right)
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds claimed more than any other Labour minister since 2019 – with his council tax bills amounting to £14,800 since the start of the last parliament.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has claimed £13,400 for council tax since 2019, and Chancellor Ms Reeves has asked taxpayers to foot a £10,800 bill over the past five years.
Other senior MPs who have put second-home council tax on expenses include Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.
Dennis Reed, director of the Silver Voices pensioners’ campaign group, said: ‘MPs don’t have any real inkling of what the cost of living crisis is like for people on modest incomes, because they are partly protected from the increases in council tax and other things.
‘There’s a rather odious stink that comes from claiming for so much. It’s morally questionable.’
A Labour spokesman said: ‘MPs of all parties are entitled to this, and they continue paying their utility bills for their own homes like everyone else.’
In December it was revealed that MPs charged taxpayers £306,000 for energy bills at their second homes in 2023-24.
The Mail on Sunday revealed in November that Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, whose department axed winter fuel payments, has her own £350-a-month energy bills paid by the taxpayer.
Her main base is a four-bedroom property in Notting Hill, West London, but she is allowed to claim costs for the second property she rents in her Leicester West constituency.
