Conservative MP Andrew MacKay announced today he was stepping down as a member of parliament (MP) at the next British general election after speaking to Tory leader David Cameron this morning.
The backlash over the Parliamentary expenses scandal intensified today amid a growing public clamour for an early general election.
Polling showed overwhelming demand among voters for the opportunity to punish MPs at the ballot box, as well as high levels of support for fringe parties and independent candidates.
As MPs felt the wrath of their voters as they returned to their constituencies for the Whitsun recess, a former Labour chairman became the latest to announce he would quit at the next election.
Ian McCartney blamed “health problems” for his early retirement but was himself revealed this week to have claimed thousands of pounds for furniture for his second home.
Tory husband-and-wife MPs Andrew MacKay and Julie Kirkbride were under pressure from their constituents to follow his lead and step down from the Commons over their second home claims.
Mr MacKay was barracked and shouted down at a public meeting in his Bracknell constituency last night when he tried to defend his actions.
He has already been forced to resign as David Cameron’s Parliamentary aide after it emerged he had been claiming second homes expenses on a property his wife declared as her main home.
The taxpayer had effectively been subsidising both of their properties.
Ms Kirkbride’s constituents were mobilising against her as well this afternoon, with shoppers in her Bromsgrove constituency queueing up to sign a petition calling for her to quit.
Another Tory MP, Sir Peter Viggers, broke cover to say he felt “ashamed and humiliated” after it was disclosed earlier this week he had tried to claim for the cost of a duck house.
Fellow Conservative Anthony Steen, who accused voters of “jealousy” over his expenses claims, was advised not to attend a constituency meeting last night because it would be “awkward” for him.
He said he had made a “ridiculous and grave” error of judgment, over which he has already signalled his retirement at the next election.
The scale of public anger was laid bare in an ICM poll for the Guardianwhich found 36 per cent of people wanted an election as soon as possible. Another 30 per cent wanted one before Christmas.
It also found 27 per cent of voters intended to vote for minor parties, mainly the UK Independence Party and the Greens, in next month’s European elections.
Only 30 per cent said they would vote Conservative, 24 per cent Labour and 18 per cent Liberal Democrat.
Gordon Brown has been resisting Tory calls for a snap election, although there are reports that some senior Labour figures believe an autumn poll might be an option.
Mr Brown does not have to go to the country until June next year.
The Archbishop of Canterbury weighed into the row today to warn that the “systematic humiliation” of MPs was damaging British democracy.
Rowan Williams acknowledged the gravity of the scandal and the need for reform.
But, writing for the Times, he added: "Many will now be wondering whether the point has not been adequately made: the continuing systematic humiliation of politicians itself threatens to carry a heavy price in terms of our ability to salvage some confidence in our democracy."
But the man who brokered the release of MPs’ expenses claims stepped forward to insist that Parliament and society would be a better place for the disclosures.
John Wick, a former SAS officer, admitted he was the middleman in the leaking of the detailed breakdown of claims that has rocked Westminster.
Mr Wick said he had “no regrets” about his role in getting the information into the public domain, saying the expenses system had been “exposed to its rotten core”.
He did not identify the Commons whistleblower, but said his contact had indicated that “those directly involved in processing the raw data were shocked and appalled by what they were seeing”.
He turned the tables on the Commons authorities by accusing them of “lax and unprofessional security procedures” in handling the unedited expenses data.
His comments came as further MPs were dragged into the row over expenses, including:
- Shadow business minister Jonathan Djanogly, who claimed nearly £5,000 to install automatic gates at his home, £13,962 for cleaning and £12,951 for gardening
- Former Tory deputy chairman Bernard Jenkin, who claimed £50,000 for renting his sister-in-law's farmhouse across across the road from a property part-owned by his wife.
- Shadow health minister Mike Penning, who put a £2.99 stainless steel dog bowl on his second home expenses.
- Northern Ireland minister Paul Goggins, who allowed a friend to live rent-free at his second home while claiming almost £45,000 from the taxpayer for it.
- Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, who spent £1,350 staying at a five-star London hotel with a former girlfriend
- Labour backbencher Mark Todd, who claimed £24,877 on kitchen units, bathroom items, lighting, carpets, tiles and furniture, including leather chairs and a marble table, for his London flat.
Reuters