Stay tuned for the numbers…
Street: 54% (+3.6%)
Byrne: 46% (-3.6%)
Following our story that West Midlands Mayoral candidate Liam Byrne had been reported to IPSA for diverting Parliamentary expenses towards his campaign, a constituent has pointed to another diversion of expenses. As you can see from the sign on Byrne’s Birmingham constituency office, he is using the office – funded on the basis that it is used exclusively for his Parliamentary responsibilities – as his mayoral campaign headquarters. The sign ambiguously reads “Labour Election Headquarters”…
Any use of parliamentary funded premises for Byrne’s mayoral campaign will have to be repaid to IPSA, MPs in similar circumstances have been asked in the past to apportion costs and repay the taxpayer accordingly. Guido will be scrutinising Byrne’s next IPSA return very carefully…
On the Birmingham Live hustings Liam Byrne’s bitterness towards Andrew Bridgen was not hidden, accusing Bridgen of putting his London accommodation on expenses – as all MPs, including Liam Byrne himself, do. More bizarrely Byrne accused Bridgen of having “one of the worst voting records in the House of Commons”…
The publicly available actual figures show that Liam Byrne has a far worse voting record. Bridgen votes just over of 88% of the time. Byrne on the other hand manages to vote a mere 63% of the time…
Labour’s West Midlands Mayoral Candidate Liam Byrne went on the defensive last night following Guido’s revelations he may have breached IPSA regulations when using Parliamentary expenses to fund his campaign. Reacting to the news that Leicester MP Andrew Bridgen had asked IPSA to investigate, Byrne sneered:
“I have not, and I will not take lessons from Andrew Bridgen, who is a man who racked up £24,000 worth of expenses on hotels, and has one of the worst voting records in the House of Commons…”
Still seeing red, Byrne turned his ire towards the interviewer – Reach PLC‘s Jonathan Walker – who quizzed him over the wage payments of his one of former staffers:
“What was disappointing about the story that you wrote on this, John, is that you didn’t bother to contact the individual concerned. If you had done that, which is actually a standard of integrity we expect from Reach PLC journalists, she would have told you that she worked in a voluntary capacity outside office hours on that work […] Now, we’re not going to take action against you and Reach, but frankly, you put yourself on the wrong side of the line when you wrote that.”
As Guido revealed yesterday, IPSA is now warning MPs that “using any IPSA-funded resources for your election campaign may be a criminal offence”. Byrne must be very confident…
Following Guido’s story that Labour’s West Midlands Mayoral Candidate Liam Byrne had breached IPSA regulations by funnelling parliamentary expenses into his campaign fund, IPSA themselves have now released a well-timed news bulletin containing updated guidance on the use of their cash:
“Any use of IPSA funds for either party or candidate campaign purposes contravenes the IPSA rules and may also be regarded as a donation by the Electoral Commission. IPSA is not a permissible donor for candidates, and so using any IPSA-funded resources for your election campaign may be a criminal offence. If you plan on campaigning, it is vital you read this guidance.”
Byrne might want to give the rules a quick look, considering almost £8,000 worth of his funding is currently unaccounted for…
Leicester MP Andrew Bridgen* has written to IPSA calling for an inquiry “into the alleged gross misuse of Parliamentary expenses”, following revelations by Guido and Skwawkbox. The letter, seen by Guido, accuses the West Midlands Mayoral candidate of diverting expenses intended for Parliamentary duties into his campaign, in breach of IPSA regulations. Bridgen contends “these are serious breaches” and asks he is investigated “as a matter of urgency”…
The letter also brings to light new evidence; Byrne has spent over £31,000 since the end of 2018 on Facebook advertising, however has registered donations of only £23,583.20 during that time (none since the end of 2019), and his GoFundMe has raised only £535. Where have the remaining funds come from?
This isn’t the only bad news for Byrne today, as a new poll for The Times shows him lagging behind Andy Street by nine points. The poll also shows West Midlanders giving large net approval ratings of Street’s performance in every policy category. Byrne claimed last week he’d done polling on the question of whether his infamous “There is no money” note would hurt him, claiming “what we found is no one has heard of it.” Turns out that isn’t correct, with the Times poll saying 44% of voters say it should be taken seriously.
Not a great day for Liam all in all…
*IPSA only accepts formal complaints from fellow MPs and constituents.
Read Bridgen’s letter in full:
