'Golden goodbyes' worth £1m for 19 former Yorkshire MPs

The three biggest payouts of more than 64,000 will go to longstanding Labour MPs John Battle, who stood down from Leeds West, and Terry Rooney who lost his Bradford East seat, as well as to retired Ryedale Tory MP John Greenway.

In total 19 ex-MPs, of whom 15 stood down and four lost their seats, are to receive cash sums of between 32,000 and 64,766, .

Scunthorpe MP Elliot Morley qualifies for 54,403 and could be the 16th retiring MP in the region to receive the cash – but he has been told it will be withheld pending the outcome of criminal charges over his expenses.

Mr Morley claimed in an interview this "goes against natural justice" and was an example of how he had "not been treated fairly".

Should Mr Morley be awarded his grant, it would bring the total payout in the region to more than 950,000.

Campaign group the TaxPayers' Alliance said that nationally 218 departing MPs will be entitled to 10.4m – an average of 47,706 – while those who were defeated at the election will be entitled to 3.3m.

It is understood that the first 30,000 of the grant is tax-free and in addition to their Parliamentary pensions.

John O'Connell, policy analyst at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "This vast sum of money will be frustrating for taxpayers, particularly after the expenses scandal.

"MPs should be aware that they are entering a contract with a fixed term – if they're voted out it's the end of the contract, not a redundancy."

The payouts have brought further pressure to reform the system at Westminster still blighted by the expenses scandal.

These may be the last wave of politicians to receive the cash – known as a resettlement grant – which is designed to cushion the blow when MPs leave Parliament.

Under the system, MPs receive between 50 and 100 per cent of their salary depending on how old they are and for how long they have been an MP.