The £36,000 portrait of the Commons Speaker that YOU paid for

Taxpayers picked up the £36,000 bill for a portrait of the Commons Speaker.

The sum – about the same as the average UK salary – was for the painting of Sir Lindsay Hoyle by leading contemporary artist Ralph Heimans.

It was unveiled in 2023 but the cost has not been reported until now.

Sources said they believe the frame it hangs in is worth at least £10,000, taking the overall cost towards £50,000.

Completed over 16 months, the 83in x 51in oil on canvas portrait captures Sir Lindsay, who became Speaker in 2019, in his ceremonial state robes during the ‘Procession’ into the Commons Chamber. 

It hangs alongside portraits of his predecessors in Speaker’s House, his grace-and-favour home.

Taxpayers footed the bill for a £36,000 portrait of speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle by Ralph Heimans (pictured)

The House of Commons said a portrait of each Speaker has been commissioned to mark their tenure since 1884 

The Speaker’s office defended the cost, saying that the £22,000 spent on John Bercow’s portrait in 2011 ‘equates to £30,000 when adjusted for inflation’. 

That is the cost of Sir Lindsay’s portrait before 20 per cent VAT is included.

A House of Commons spokesman said: ‘Since 1884 Parliament has commissioned a portrait of each Speaker to mark their tenure.’

Mr Heimans, a London-based Australian artist, painted an official portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012.