Former Labour MP forced to repay £3,835.32 after breaking Parliamentary rules
Former Labour MP Laura Pidcock, who lost her seat at the 2019 general election, is having to repay £3,835.32 after an official investigation found she wrongly used Parliamentary resources for her election campaign.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards reports:
I investigated an allegation that the Member had broken the rules on the use of
House-provided stationery and postage-paid envelopes by sending constituents a
mailing which was party-political in tone and content…I found Ms Pidcock had acted in breach of the rules on stationery and had breached paragraph 16 of the Code of Conduct for Members.
The former Member acknowledged and apologised for her inadvertent breach of the rules. She has undertaken to refund the House authorities (£3,835.32) for the
misused stationery and postage.
She isn’t the only (former) MP to have run into trouble with misusing public funds for electioneering. In earlier rulings, Daniel Zeichner (Labour, Cambridge) has had to repay £343.96 and Zac Goldsmith (Conservative, formerly Richmond Park) has had to repay £8,954.33.
UPDATE: And another MP. George Freeman (Conservative, Mid-Norfolk) has had to repay £759.03.
Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards: Laura Pidcock ruling
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the penalties are completely out of proportion with the crime. A few thousand pounds is nothing when trying to win an election. she should be barred from public office for a period of time proportional to the crime.
As I understand it they are merely required to repay the monies found to be mis-spent without any other penalty. Where’s the punishment proportional to the crime ? Hardly sends a message out of deterence. Any lesser mortal found out for inappropriate use of company money would have to repay receive a fine plus possible instant dismissal.