The TaxPayers’ Alliance has produced a handy table of the Cabinet ministers with the highest benefit claim totals in their constituency. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden coming in second – gulp…
| Name | Government department | Constituency | Total benefit bill (£) | Rank | Benefits per resident (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shabana Mahmood | Home Office | Birmingham Ladywood | 623,912,797 | 3 | 3,738 |
| Pat McFadden | Department for Work and Pensions | Wolverhampton South East | 416,262,052 | 40 | 3,244 |
| Alex Norris | Ministry of Justice | Nottingham North and Kimberley | 389,471,033 | 49 | 3,544 |
| Lucy Powell | Department for Education | Manchester Central | 387,627,903 | 51 | 2,790 |
| Anneliese Midgley | Whips Office (Commons) | Knowsley | 377,937,443 | 59 | 3,815 |
| Miatta Fahnbulleh | Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | Peckham | 365,610,519 | 70 | 3,268 |
| Louise Haigh | Cabinet Office | Sheffield Heeley | 361,328,840 | 72 | 3,249 |
| Stephen Kinnock | Wales Office | Aberafan Maesteg | 342,464,070 | 92 | 3,687 |
| Chris Bryant | Northern Ireland Office | Rhondda and Ogmore | 340,659,394 | 95 | 3,366 |
| Bridget Phillipson | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | Houghton and Sunderland South | 333,803,051 | 97 | 3,146 |
| Matthew Pennycook | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | Greenwich and Woolwich | 330,606,610 | 103 | 2,673 |
| Angela Eagle | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Wallasey | 320,281,913 | 118 | 3,260 |
| Angela Rayner | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | Ashton-under-Lyne | 315,115,965 | 123 | 3,014 |
| Yvette Cooper | Department of Health and Social Care | Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley | 289,328,377 | 161 | 2,750 |
| Lisa Nandy | Department for Culture, Media and Sport | Wigan | 287,948,809 | 162 | 2,638 |
| John Healey | HM Treasury | Rawmarsh and Conisbrough | 285,735,926 | 169 | 2,962 |
| Wes Streeting | Ministry of Defence | Ilford North | 282,252,192 | 175 | 2,272 |
| Ed Miliband | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | Doncaster North | 280,019,366 | 177 | 2,823 |
| Jonathan Reynolds | Department for Business, Innovation and Trade | Stalybridge and Hyde | 270,523,500 | 196 | 2,707 |
| Hamish Falconer | Cabinet Office; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | Lincoln | 269,473,508 | 198 | 2,256 |
| Ellie Reeves | Attorney General’s Office | Lewisham West and East Dulwich | 263,676,124 | 209 | 2,655 |
| Kanishka Narayan | Cabinet Office; Department for Business, Innovation and Trade | Vale of Glamorgan | 238,920,044 | 251 | 2,446 |
| Heidi Alexander | Department for Transport | Swindon South | 235,036,657 | 263 | 1,997 |
| Andy Burnham | Cabinet Office | Makerfield | 232,259,275 | 269 | 2,203 |
| Emma Reynolds | HM Treasury | Wycombe | 203,869,801 | 330 | 1,815 |
| Sir Alan Campbell | Office of the Leader of the House of Commons | Tynemouth | 193,514,771 | 357 | 1,991 |
| Douglas Alexander | Scotland Office | Lothian East | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Total (£) | 8,237,639,940 | ||||
| Average per cabinet minister (£) | 316,832,305 | 2,858 | |||
William Yarwood, campaigns director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, tells Guido:
“It is mind-boggling that the Cabinet is collectively presiding over an £8.2 billion benefit bill in their own backyards. When even Pat McFadden himself has a benefits bill of £400 million in his own constituency it’s clear why the government is struggling to get a grip on out-of-control welfare spending. Ministers cannot keep turning a blind eye to welfare dependency when it is staring them right in the face in their own seats.”
Click below to see the benefit claimants versus the ministers’ majorities. 14 cabinet ministers have PIP Claimants higher than their majority including the Home Secretary, the DWP Secretary, the Education Secretary, the Chancellor, the Health Secretary, the Foreign Secretary and the Housing Secretary. Crikey…
| Name | Constituency | Majority | PIP claimants | More PIP claimants than majority? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shabana Mahmood | Birmingham Ladywood | 3,421 | 11,573 | Yes |
| Pat McFadden | Wolverhampton South East | 9,188 | 11,646 | Yes |
| Alex Norris | Nottingham North and Kimberley | 9,427 | 11,309 | Yes |
| Lucy Powell | Manchester Central | 13,797 | 10,396 | No |
| Anneliese Midgley | Knowsley | 18,319 | 13,686 | No |
| Miatta Fahnbulleh | Peckham | 15,228 | 7,484 | No |
| Louise Haigh | Sheffield Heeley | 15,304 | 10,664 | No |
| Stephen Kinnock | Aberafan Maesteg | 10,354 | 12,669 | Yes |
| Chris Bryant | Rhondda and Ogmore | 7,790 | 12,982 | Yes |
| Bridget Phillipson | Houghton and Sunderland South | 7,169 | 12,416 | Yes |
| Matthew Pennycook | Greenwich and Woolwich | 18,366 | 6,595 | No |
| Angela Eagle | Wallasey | 17,996 | 11,623 | No |
| Angela Rayner | Ashton-under-Lyne | 6,791 | 9,290 | Yes |
| Yvette Cooper | Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley | 6,630 | 9,698 | Yes |
| Lisa Nandy | Wigan | 9,549 | 9,993 | Yes |
| John Healey | Rawmarsh and Conisbrough | 6,908 | 10,231 | Yes |
| Wes Streeting | Ilford North | 528 | 6,284 | Yes |
| Ed Miliband | Doncaster North | 9,126 | 9,644 | Yes |
| Jonathan Reynolds | Stalybridge and Hyde | 8,539 | 8,582 | Yes |
| Hamish Falconer | Lincoln | 8,793 | 8,584 | No |
| Ellie Reeves | Lewisham West and East Dulwich | 18,397 | 5,400 | No |
| Kanishka Narayan | Vale of Glamorgan | 4,216 | 8,148 | Yes |
| Heidi Alexander | Swindon South | 9,606 | 6,534 | No |
| Andy Burnham | Makerfield | 9,231 | 8,776 | No |
| Emma Reynolds | Wycombe | 4,591 | 4,513 | No |
| Sir Alan Campbell | Tynemouth | 15,455 | 6,975 | No |
Robert Jenrick on the Today programme:
“Can you now give a guarantee to your listeners this morning that no BBC presenter in the future will be exposed as a paedophile, as a number have been in the recent past? No, of course you can’t…”