Labour MP Liam Byrne used expenses to help fund mayor campaign

A parliamentary investigation has upheld a complaint against a Labour MP for using expenses to help his failed bid to become West Midlands mayor.

An Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority report found "overwhelming evidence" one of Liam Byrne's staff worked on his 2021 campaign while contracted and paid by Parliament.

MPs cannot use taxpayer-funded allowances for political campaigns.

The MP said campaign work by staff had been voluntary or done while on leave.

The report says the Birmingham, Hodge Hill MP will not be asked to repay the funds because of the difficulty in establishing the exact number of hours the staff member worked and also because of the delay in the investigation.

It says the delay was due to a previous parliamentary investigation, concluded in 2022, which found Mr Byrne had bullied a member of staff.

The authority (Ipsa) said the amount of work done on the mayoral campaign by the MP's staff member was "conservatively" about 1,000 hours.

No sanctions against Mr Byrne are proposed in the report.

It recommends staff contracts are clear and MPs need to sign a declaration about parliamentary staff not working on political campaigns.

In response, Mr Byrne said he fully agreed "that stronger safeguards are needed for MPs, such as volunteer agreements and contractual clarity around delivery of set hours where time was worked flexibly, to guard against lines 'getting blurred' between political and parliamentary work".

"As such, Mr Byrne strongly supports the recommendations made by the IPSA investigator that IPSA contracts now need reform to ensure protection of the public purse and profoundly thanks her for her exhaustive investigation," a statement from the MP's team added.

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