MP addresses made secret
By politics.co.uk staff
MPs have voted to keep their home addresses secret in a move which some fear will make it harder to check on expense claims.
Currently all people standing for an election have their address printed on the ballot.
The political parties and elections bill, passed by a free vote yesterday, had an amendment attached by Conservative MP Julian Lewis which would allow those addresses to be removed, with only a confirmation that candidates live in the constituency in their place.
Supporters of the amendment claim it is a security issue and they must retain anonymity to prevent the possibility of attacks by angry constituents or terrorists.
But critics said this was a move to help MPs cover up abuses of their controversial taxpayer-funded expenses for second homes.
However, the vote was condemned by the Association of Electoral Administrators who said it was “a further erosion of the important link between elected representatives and those they seek to represent”.
A High Court ruling in 2008 said that under freedom of information laws MPs should have to disclose their addresses as part of claim enquiries into second home expenses.
Home secretary Jacqui Smith is currently under investigation by parliament’s standards committee over her claims for £116,000 in second home expenses despite listing her primary residence as her sister’s house.
