Shadow housing secretary funded by estate agent
The office of the shadow housing secretary, Grant Shapp, was part-funded by an estate agent while that of the shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley, received a donation from a medical equipment company.
The revelations come as MPs loose their fight to have second home expenses kept private.
The information is revealed in a report from the Commons standards committee. The committee exonerated the MPs because – while the money was not declared to parliament’s register of members’ interests – it had been reported to the Electoral Commission.
Mr Shapp received money from estate agent Douglas and Gordon, while Mr Lansley received donations from Julian Schild, owner of medical equipment company Huntleigh Technology.
The Tory party have reaffirmed that all its members were exonerated of any wrongdoing and that the failure to notify the parliamentary register merely reflected confusion over the application of the rules – an interpretation shared by the Commons standards committee.
But Labour has come out fighting over the revelations, with local communities secretary Hazel Smith saying David Cameron has no right to preach about transparency until “he gets his own house in order”.
