BANBURY MP Tony Baldry claimed £56,759 on his second home in London over four years – including £36,355 on paying off the interest on his mortgage.

But the Tory MP, who was first elected in 1983, said he had never claimed for food or furniture and always claimed within the “spirit of the rules”.

Between April 2004 and March 2008, he claimed £1,305 on utility bills, £1,026 on council tax, and £17,852.51 on service charges and maintenance for his two-bedroom flat in Westminster.

His mortgage claims dropped sharply in 2006-07 because he did not claim during a period when he was remortgaging the property, and he only started claiming utility bills in 2007.

He said the two lump sums for maintenance – £3,204 and £9,312 – were mandatory payments for repairs to “common parts” of his block of flats, including the stairway and outside of the building.

He said: “I think every MP is going to have to explain to their constituents the claims they have made.

“I don’t think any of us has got this 100 per cent right. I once inadvertently made duplicate claims for my mortgage which was picked up. But I don’t think in the 26 years I have been an MP I have ever claimed for food, taxis or individual items of furniture. That’s just the way I understood the rules.

“I hope I have complied with the letter and spirit of the rules. I don’t assume to make judgements on colleagues. Everyone’s personal circumstances are different.”

Mr Baldry’s main home is in Bloxham. When he was first elected he designated his London home as his main home, and he rented and later bought properties in his constituency which were designated as his second home.

In the early 1990s, when his two children moved from a London school to a school near Banbury, he swapped designations –– the only time he did so.

Mr Baldry said he believed it was vitally important for MPs whose constituencies were outside London to be able to have a second home.

He also said he sympathised with young MPs with no income other than their salary who needed to set up and run two homes, although he accepted the Additional Costs Allowance for second homes needed to be reformed.

He said: “There must be public confidence in Parliament.

“MPs no longer have a say or a vote as to their pay as it is now determined entirely independently and it would seem sensible, if there is to be public confidence, that issues relating to expenses are also decided and determined by an independent body.”

MPs are allowed to claim up to £24,222 a year on their second homes. But Sir Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the committee on standards in public life, is conducting a review of all aspects of the system in a bid to clamp down on excessive and corrupt claims and restore public confidence.

tshepherd@oxfordmail.co.uk