Derbyshire MP Lee Rowley gets £4k payout for quitting Government – then going back

Lee Rowley, MP for North East Derbyshire, resigned from his role as whip as part of a mass exodus from Boris Johnson’s government last July.

Ministers resigning from the Government are entitled to 35% of the annual salaries they were paid for that particular office: ministers receive an additional wage to the £84,144 that all MPs are entitled to.

When he quit on July 6 last year he urged, then PM, Boris Johnson to resign “for the good of the party and country”.

Mr Johnson did and, 64 days later, Mr Rowley was back in a ministerial position within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities. He remained there for Liz Truss’ short premiership before being shuffled to a new role, within the same department, under Rishi Sunak.

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Late on Friday (July 21) the Treasury published their annual report in which it revealed the MP received a £4,479 pay-out when he departed government.

The Derbyshire Times asked Mr Rowley if he believed this was fair value for taxpayers and he said: “Rightly, as an MP, the amount of money I’m paid, and the expenses associated with my work, is public and transparent so everyone can see. There is nothing new here in this announcement and it has been written about multiple times by the press.

“Over the last year, I have used some of the money received to help local groups and support community initiatives in North East Derbyshire. They have included support for a community group in Killamarsh, to assist a well dressing group and for community efforts to raise money for health causes in our community. I will continue to support other initiatives in the community where I can in the future.

As my expenses hopefully show, I try to reduce what I spend where I can. As examples, and although MPs are permitted to do so, I do not generally claim for rent payments, petrol costs for my car when going between constituency engagements nor travel to and from Parliament when down in London.”

Mr Rowley claimed £33158.18 in office rent costs and £12446.91 in MP travel expenses for the years 2021 to 2023, as reported by IPSA.