Andy Burnham has often presented himself as a politician whose loyalties lie firmly with the north of England, even reportedly saying that he would continue living there if he ever became Prime Minister instead of moving into the flat above Downing Street. However, his past expenses claims have come under renewed scrutiny over his time as a Labour MP, when he claimed parliamentary allowances for accommodation in London.
At the centre of the controversy is an £18,200 payment he received after leaving Dolphin Square, a well-known apartment complex near Westminster. Rather than handing the money back, as many other MPs reportedly did, Burnham reached an arrangement that allowed the payment to be added to his parliamentary housing allowance. The money was then used alongside taxpayers' funds to help purchase and renovate a London flat that he and his wife still own, with the arrangement later becoming part of the wider debate surrounding MPs' expenses.
