Almost ALL departing MPs could get ‘golden goodbyes’ worth tens of thousands of pounds at the next election as watchdog hints it will ease rules after boundary changes
- Commons watchdog is looking at overhauling rules on MPs’ ‘golden goodbyes’
- Boundary review means very few MPs will be defending exactly the ‘same’ seat
Almost all departing MPs could be eligible for ‘golden goodbyes’ at the next election after a swathe of constituencies had their boundaries overhauled.
The Commons watchdog has hinted it will dramatically loosen rules for politicians who leave the House.
Under the existing system, MPs are only eligible for ‘Loss of Office’ payments – LOOP – if they have served at least two years and stood for re-election in the ‘same seat’.
However, the extent of the boundary review – due to be finalised soon – means that all but a handful of constituencies have been redrawn, merged, had their names changed – or all three.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) was grilled on the situation at a session with MPs last week.
Chief executive Ian Todd said the body was determined that MPs will not be ‘disadvantaged’ if they make decisions on their future due to boundary changes – suggesting they could be eligible even if they opt to stand down.
‘We are conscious of, and taking into account, the fact that boundary changes might have an impact on those who choose to stand for office in future,’ he said.
‘We would not want people to be disadvantaged by their seats being reconfigured in a way that means that they have to move on — where it appears to be voluntary, but it is not necessarily.’
Rules on ‘golden goodbyes’ for MPs could be made more generous after a boundary review overhauled a swathe of constituencies for the next election (pictured, PMQs this week)
Ipsa chief executive Ian Todd (pictured) said the body was determined that MPs will not be ‘disadvantaged’ if they make decisions in their future due to boundary changes
LOOP is equivalent to two or three weeks’ salary for every year served, depending on age. For an MP on the core wage of £84,000 with 10 years’ service that would be worth between £30,000 and £50,000.
Similar rules apply to ‘winding up’ payments, which are equivalent to a lump sum of two months’ salary after tax and NICs – roughly £10,000.
The turnover of MPs could be particularly high at the election – potentially next year – with Labour riding high in the polls.
Ipsa has admitted there are currently doubts about who would receive payoffs, and is planning a consultation on changing the rules. The cross-party Administration Committee is also looking into the issue.
Minutes from September show the Ipsa board highlighted the importance of ‘providing certainty as to the eligibility requirements for payments upon losing office’.
But it pointed to the ‘difficulty of judging what constitutes a major or minor change to constituency boundaries for LOOP purposes’.
Questions were also raised about ‘winding up’ payments.
MPs who are ousted after defending the ‘same’ seat are in line for the sums.
However, the Ipsa board noted that MPs were also eligible if they stepped down voluntarily at a snap election held outside of the five-year schedule set by the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act.
The boundary review will see all but a handful of constituencies redrawn and many will have different names (pictured, a Boundary Commission map showing the revised constituencies in light blue and existing ones in dark blue)
That legislation has now been repealed, meaning the PM can call a poll at any point.
One possibility would be to remove the requirement for MPs to defend the ‘same’ seat, or even say that all politicians leaving Parliament at the next election are entitled to the payoffs.
Senior Tories have acknowledged the boundary review will leave ‘very few’ seats unchanged.
One suggested that Ipsa should follow the example of political parties, which consider an MP to be defending a seat if a high proportion of it is the same as the one they previously won.
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