Matt Hancock is claiming an extra £13,200 a year in expenses from the taxpayer to rent a home with his lover after quitting his marital home. The Mirror reports that the former Health Secretary has been claiming £3,300 a month for a property in London since September, which is 50% more than his previous one for a house in his constituency.
He started claiming on the new home six months ago and over the course of a year it will add an extra £13,200 to his expenses claim. It comes as a register of MPs' interests showed that Mr Hancock, who he earned £320,000 for appearing on the TV reality show I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, has earned more than £440,000 in a year in addition to his £84,144 MP’s salary.
Mr Hancock’s lover Gina Coladangelo and her estranged husband Oliver Tress sold their London home for £7.5m at the start of the year. Mr Hancock left his family home in Willesden, North West London, in June 2021 after pictures emerged of him kissing Ms Coladangelo during lockdown in his office.
Up until August, the Tory claimed £2,200 a month for a house in his West Suffolk constituency. In October, his accommodation claim increased by £1,100 a month. His spokesman confirmed to the Mirror that this was for a new second home in London. Mr Hancock also claimed £2,882.34 in removal costs.
In February, he revealed that the Ukrainian family he had been hosting at his Suffolk residence had found jobs, a school for their five-year-old daughter, and “this week, a new home that they can call their own”.
Mr Hancock still owns a £2.2m home in London with his estranged wife Martha, which they bought for £1.6m in 2014. MPs are allowed to claim for the cost of running a second home. This includes a cap of £17,840 a year in rent – or £25,080 in London.
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They are able to claim an extra £5,720 a year in rent for each “eligible dependent”, up to a maximum of three. Mr Hancock has three children, so is able to claim a total of £42,240.
In December, he said he would not stand in the next general election after his appearance on I’m a Celeb provoked a storm of controversy.
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