MP happy to declare wife’s salary

The MP for Newark, Mr Patrick Mercer, is happy to declare that he pays his wife a £15,000 salary as his assistant, after it was revealed a fellow backbencher gave his wife and two sons more than £1/4m in six years for doing virtually nothing.

When Mr Mercer first stood for Newark, he said that were he elected, he would regard the job as a partnership with his wife, Mrs Cait Mercer.

Mrs Mercer has become a familiar figure in the constituency, attending meetings and functions on her husband’s behalf when he has other commitments. She plays an active part in many organisations.

The MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup, Mr Derek Conway, paid his sons, Frederick and Henry, tens of thousands of pounds as researchers while they were at university, although there are doubts about whether they carried out any work.

The Conservative whip has been withdrawn from Mr Conway by the party leader, Mr David Cameron.

Mr Conway has announced he will not stand at the next General Election. He faces a possible police investigation.

MPs receive a basic salary of £59,686 and a pension, and can pay up to £96,630 for researchers, secretaries and assistants, as well as travel and other office costs.

In 2006-7 Mr Mercer claimed £144,667. Of this, £95,064 was spent on staff.

As well as his parliamentary secretary in London, Miss Heather Millican, and his constituency secretary, Mrs Sue Gray, Mr Mercer pays his wife, Mrs Mercer, as a part-time constituency assistant.

Mr Mercer said he had no idea how many hours his wife worked, but said her main duties involved attending meetings on his behalf.

He said this week, for instance, she attended three public meetings he was unable to attend.

Mr Mercer said this often involved organisations in which an MP would not involve himself personally, such as residents’ association meetings.

Mrs Mercer was due to attend Newark Business Club’s 7am meeting with him today, and she dealt with a lot of his constituency correspondence on his behalf, which included working closely with Mrs Gray.

He said she also dealt with casework and was able to sign things off on his behalf so matters could be concluded much more quickly.

Mr Mercer said: “It is widely known that my wife works for me.

“When I get in at around midnight on a Thursday evening, I will discuss constituency matters with her in bed over a cup of tea, because that is the only time I have left to discuss it.

“We then get up at 6am and attend meetings like Newark Business Club.

“I know I would not get the hours I get from Cait, from someone else, for £15,000 a year.”

He said Mrs Mercer’s salary was not scientifically calculated, but was what was left over after he paid his two full-time staff, whom he described as top-of-the-range assistants.

Mr Mercer said MPs were basically budget holders for a private business, and it irritated him that it was thought of as expenses and not salaries.

He said Miss Millican was last employed by the Prime Minister so he had to pay her a proper wage, about which he had no qualms.

Mr Mercer said he would welcome any rules that forced MPs to declare how much they paid staff, and if they were relatives.

Mrs Mercer (49) is Oxford educated and worked as a women’s magazine publisher before taking a career break to give birth to the couple’s son, Rupert (16). She has worked for her husband since he entered politics in 2001.

He said because Mr Conway was a friend and a colleague, there was little he wanted to say on the matter, other than he thought Mr Conway had made a serious misjudgment.

The MP for Sherwood, Mr Paddy Tipping, spent £74,791 on staff last year and does not employ any relatives.

Many MPs properly employ members of their families to carry out productive work for them. These include the former foreign secretary, Mrs Margaret Beckett, who employs her husband, and the Tory chief whip, Mr Patrick McLoughlin, who employs his wife.

It was Mr McLoughlin’s report to Mr Cameron that led to the withdrawal of the whip from Mr Conway.