Mr and Mrs Expenses - Labour couple claim £313,714 (over £61,000 salaries)
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Health Minister Ann Keen has been confirmed as Britain's most costly MP. Her expenses claim totalled a whopping £167,306 in the last financial year.
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Mr and Mrs Expenses - Labour couple Alan and Ann Keen claim £313,714 (on top of their £61,000 salaries)

Health Minister Ann Keen has been confirmed as Britain's most costly MP.

Her expenses claim totalled a whopping £167,306 in the last financial year - the highest excluding transport costs, which disproportionately affect some English and Welsh and all Scottish MPs.

Her husband Alan, who represents a neighbouring seat, claimed a total of £146,408, bringing the couple's overall cost to the taxpayer to £313,714 in the last financial year - excluding travel costs.

The couple, nicknamed 'Mr and Mrs Expenses', claimed the extraordinary costs despite living just a 30-minute drive from Westminster.

Double your money: Alan and Ann Keen are rolling in public money

The claims came on top of their annual salary, which was worth £61,820 to each at the time, and a gold-plated final salary pension scheme.

The MPs represent adjoining constituencies in West London, nine miles from the House of Commons, and live in their constituency home in Brentford.

In all, the Keens, who are officially 'outer London MPs', received a total of £38,193 in second-home allowance alone, to cover the cost of running the cost of an apartment on the South Bank, a short walk from the House of Commons.

The property's value has risen from an estimated £500,000 in 2002 to around £750,000 today - meaning the pair are estimated to have built up a £250,000 property nestegg courtesy of the taxpayer.

There is no suggestion that Mrs Keen, 60, and her 71-year-old husband broke the rules. However, critics claim they live so near to the Commons that they should be able to claim only the inner London supplement of £2,700. Last year it emerged that Mrs Keen had insured her husband's life for £430,000 and put the premium on expenses. That is despite the fact that both members are covered thanks to their parliamentary pensions.

Mrs Keen also became the first MP to face action for breaching the 'duty of care' to a constituent. She was ordered to pay £15,000 in damagesto 84-year- old war veteran John Taylor for failing to represent him in his battle to clear his name after a miscarriage of justice, although the case has yet to be resolved.

The other expenses she claimed include £104,508 in office costs, £10,000 in communication costs, £19,142 in staff cover and other costs and £5,497 in stationery. In addition to his second-home claim of £19,855, Mr Keen's overall bill also included £13,449 in office running costs, £97,101 in staffing costs and £9,786 in communication costs and £3,549 in stationery costs.

A spokesman for Mrs Keen refused to comment on her expenses.

The Keens are not the only married MPs to take full advantage of their second-home allowance by claiming up to double the entitlement of their colleagues.

Tory MPs Andrew Mackay and Julie Kirkbride top the list as the most expensive pairing, with a total claim of £45,658.

Mr Mackay claimed a total of £23,083 in 2007/08, while his wife received £22,575 in Additional Cost Allowances, which are meant to cover the costs of MPs staying away from home to carry out their Parliamentary duties.

The couple have homes in both their constituencies, as well as sharing a London flat in Pimlico estimated to be worth around £2million.

The Mackay-Kirkbrides - who both voted for MPs to be allowed to keep their second-home allowance last year - have claimed a total of around £285,000 since figures began in 2001/02.

There is nothing in the rules to stop married couples from each claiming the maximum available. The loophole enables them to buy a far more expensive property than they would otherwise be able to afford.

Full details of MPs' expenses in 2007/08

These figures show that our elected representatives claimed a total of £92.9million in taxpayer-funded allowances.

Here we highlight some of the biggest claimers:

Table 1: Shows the top 10 highest-claiming MPs in the country, but this table is skewed by the high travel costs of some MPs who represent far-flung constituencies.

Table 2: For the first time, details of travel claimed by MPs' spouses and children is revealed. Partners and children under 18 are entitled up to 30 single journeys between an MP's constituency and Parliament.

Table 3: The top 10 highest-claiming MPs - excluding travel costs.