The Cabinet Minister who axed pensioners’ winter fuel payments has her own £350-a-month energy bills paid by the taxpayer – while she lives in a £4 million London mansion.
Liz Kendall has been branded a hypocrite for removing the payment for ten million pensioners while bills at her second home are being met from the public purse.
The Work and Pensions Secretary’s main base is a four-bedroom property in Notting Hill, West London, which she shares with her partner, an Old Etonian investment banker. But she is allowed to claim costs for the second property she rents in her Leicester West constituency.
The most recent documents held by the Commons show she claimed a total of £3,810 in energy costs between April 2023 and July this year, with the largest monthly bills totalling £352.
Ms Kendall’s decision to axe the annual winter fuel payment of between £100 and £300 for all but the poorest pensioners will force 100,000 people into poverty by 2027 according to her own department’s forecasts.
Last night, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The hypocrisy of the Labour Government knows no bounds. I will not be claiming a penny in expenses for my heating.’
And Tory MP David Simmonds said: ‘This revelation will be a kick in the teeth for the 10 million pensioners facing choosing between heating and eating this Christmas because of Labour and Liz Kendall’s political choice to cut the winter fuel payment.
‘While Liz Kendall is living a life of luxury the country is facing real life consequences of Labour’s ill-thought-out decisions. In four short months this Labour Government have made it clear they do not have the British people’s best interests at heart.’
Fuel minister Liz Kendall has been branded a hypocrite for removing winter fuel payments for ten million pensioners while her Notting Hill home is heated with public money
The most recent documents held by the Commons show she claimed a total of £3,810 in energy costs for her four-bedroom property in Notting Hill between April 2023 and July this year
And Dennis Reed, director of campaign group Silver Voices said: ‘Many people will be furious – rightfully furious. It’s the hypocrisy of it all.’
But a source close to Ms Kendall defended the Minister, saying: ‘The accommodation costs budget is designed to meet costs incurred by MPs as a result of working from two permanent locations.
‘MPs of all parties are entitled to this, and they continue paying their utility bills for their own homes like everyone else.’
But a former neighbour – and pensioner – in Leicestershire said: ‘This is outrageous.’
The retired accountant, 77, who gave his name only as Wiliam, said: ‘She has blighted the lives of so many people across the country with her scandalous winter fuel policy.
‘Now we learn the people she is robbing are helping pay her bills at her constituency home. It is one rule for the powers-that-be and another one for us.’
Ms Kendall bought the three-storey London townhouse with financier James Ind for £3.9 million in January 2021. It boasts four bedrooms, four reception rooms and three bathroom, with estate agent pictures from the time revealing plush interiors, with a magnificent gilt-framed painting and a large fireplace in the living room.
The Government announced in July that access to winter fuel payments would be restricted to people claiming pension credit, with the aim of saving £1.5 billion a year. Of the 11.4 million pensioners previously eligible, only 1.5 million meet the new criteria.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has repeatedly been accused of ‘picking a fight’ with pensioners.
But he insists that it ‘makes sense’ to cut the payments, arguing that the government’s finances were ‘really, really difficult’. He said he had to prioritise delivering for the NHS, schools and other public services used by pensioners.
Last week, Ms Kendall responded to growing pressure over the decision by saying: ‘Means-testing winter fuel payments was not a decision this government wanted or expected to take’ but blamed ‘the £22 billion black hole we inherited.’
Ms Kendall has declared Mr Ind’s job with Santander Asset Management UK on her register of ministerial interests, because it could potentially lead to a conflict of interest with her responsibility for pensions policy as his firm’s client base includes some local government pension schemes.
Ms Kendall, who was previously in an eight-year relationship with the comedian Greg Davies, announced in January 2022 that she was ‘bursting with love and happiness’ after having a baby boy via surrogacy.
The Government announced in July that access to winter fuel payments would be restricted to people claiming pension credit (file photo)
Ms Kendall bought the three-storey London townhouse with financier James Ind (pictured) for £3.9 million in January 2021
Eton-educated Mr Ind, 53, is a City high flyer with a formidable CV. After graduating from Durham University he received an MBA in finance at Cass Business School in London before joining US banking giant Merrill Lynch.
He left in 2008, during the global financial crisis, and later worked for a string of major investment firms, including Russell Investments, where he was responsible for around £4 billion.
In July 2023 he joined Spanish banking giant Santander as ‘global head of multi-asset solutions’, with sources suggesting he would be paid around £600,000 a year in salary and bonuses.
The bank’s investment division, where he works, manages £192 billion of investments.
One of London’s most affluent areas, Notting Hill was once home to the so-called Notting Hill set of prominent Tories including David Cameron, George Osborne and Michael Gove.