Oink, oink, oink...Mr Woodward, the Northern Ireland Secretary, was paid the maximum second homes allowance of £23,083 in 2007-08, the most recent year for which full records are available.
He spent the money on mortgage interest and council tax payments on a Thames-side flat in London where he stays when Parliament is sitting.
He spent the money on mortgage interest and council tax payments on a Thames-side flat in London where he stays when Parliament is sitting.
His expenses receipts, submitted quarterly with a covering letter from his accountants, show that between January 2004 and June 2008, Mr Woodward claimed £98,079.63 in mortgage interest payments, £1,806.69 towards utility bills, £3,814.98 towards his council tax and £409.16 in phone bills.
He also made one claim for £188 under the category of repairs, insurance and security, for which he was not required to submit a receipt, in 2006. With his wife Camilla, a member of the Sainsbury’s grocery family, Mr Woodward, 50, is worth an estimated £15 million.
The couple own a large estate in Oxfordshire, a house in Oxford and a terrace house in the MP’s St Helens South constituency, as well as land in the West Indies and holiday homes in New York and France, which they rent out.
Until 2007, when he became a minister, Mr Woodward also declared rental income from properties in London and Oxfordshire.
Since June, 2007, he has use of the £80 million Hillsborough Castle near the Northern Ireland assembly in Stormont, which is the Government’s most expensive grace and favour home.
The fact that he claimed such a large sum towards the cost of a flat in London when he also owned other properties in the capital is likely to raise questions over whether his expenses claims represent “value for money” for the taxpayer, as required by parliamentary rules.
He also made one claim for £188 under the category of repairs, insurance and security, for which he was not required to submit a receipt, in 2006. With his wife Camilla, a member of the Sainsbury’s grocery family, Mr Woodward, 50, is worth an estimated £15 million.
The couple own a large estate in Oxfordshire, a house in Oxford and a terrace house in the MP’s St Helens South constituency, as well as land in the West Indies and holiday homes in New York and France, which they rent out.
Until 2007, when he became a minister, Mr Woodward also declared rental income from properties in London and Oxfordshire.Since June, 2007, he has use of the £80 million Hillsborough Castle near the Northern Ireland assembly in Stormont, which is the Government’s most expensive grace and favour home.
The fact that he claimed such a large sum towards the cost of a flat in London when he also owned other properties in the capital is likely to raise questions over whether his expenses claims represent “value for money” for the taxpayer, as required by parliamentary rules.
Last seen headed off to root about for grubs an truffles.
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3 people have spoken:
Come on Stevenage - here's why you need to chuck Barbara out. Call for a by-election now.
Woodward, so that's why he defected. I'm so very glad he's their's.As for any Tory snouts yet to be revealed. Resign and call a by-election.
What a train wreck this is and I love the London Underground sign!
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