Johnny Mercer pays again £2,000 of taxpayers money he spent on political leaflets

On Jan 20, 2024

Minister Johnny Mercer has agreed to pay again virtually £2,000 of taxpayers’ cash he spent on Tory marketing campaign leaflets.

The flyers, distributed in Mr Mercer’s Plymouth constituency boast that he’s “representing you in No10”, saying he is the “first MP from Plymouth to be in the Cabinet for decades”. And he tells voters his role as minister is a “probability to beat our drum, be certain that we’re heard and ship sturdy outcomes for you.”

MPs are banned from claiming expenses for campaign leaflets – and are only allowed to charge taxpayers for non-political informational publications. Following a complaint from a member of the public, IPSA accepted the expenses claim from Mercer shouldn’t have been paid, as the leaflets did not count as “single subject” non-political communications.

The leaflet, which IPSA now agrees was political in nature and shouldn’t have been accepted

But as Mr Mercer repaid the cash, no additional investigation was deemed mandatory.

A spokesperson for IPSA stated: “The Compliance Officer did not consider the issue to constitute a breach of the Scheme and did not initiate a formal investigation. However the Compliance Officer advised the MP to repay the costs, which has now happened.”

Mr Mercer was approached for remark.

It comes after the bills watchdog stepped in to inform Mr Mercer to cease charging taxpayers for self-importance photographs of himself – together with one he used on the flyer involved. The Veterans minister has claimed a whole bunch of kilos on bills for 20 snaps of himself taken by picture businesses, which he’s used on his web site and on marketing campaign leaflets.

They embody photos of him striding out of Number 10, shaking arms with poppy sellers and strolling up and down Whitehall and Downing Street carrying his crimson ministerial folder. But IPSA stepped in – saying Mr Mercer’s use of the pictures in marketing campaign supplies is “at odds with the fundamental principles” of the bills guidelines.

MPs are allowed to assert for images prices, however just for parliamentary functions – and aren’t allowed to make use of the photographs for occasion political leaflets. But Mr Mercer says he buys the picture licences to make use of on non-political social media posts – solely utilizing them in marketing campaign materials afterward. In response to an earlier grievance from a member of the general public, IPSA stated the principles weren’t clear on whether or not that is allowed.