Jailed MP’s expenses revealed

Mr Illsley, who was released last month and claimed to have been made a “scapegoat”, provoked outrage by clinging on to his parliamentary seat for nearly a month after pleading guilty.

His claims included £3,000 for photocopier hire and £2,302 for constituency office rent.

The figures were released by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa).

The rules for claiming were relaxed amid politicians’ protests and they can now use them to settle bills for business rates, council tax bills and certain utility bills.

Around 10,000 such transactions have now been made by 378 MPs.

The total payments for the start of this year were the same as for the last two months of 2010 but the bill is set to rise significantly when future figures are published.

In a series of concessions to soothe MPs furious about the system introduced in the wake of the Westminster pay and perks scandal, Ipsa is now allowing them to spend more.

The controversial changes were announced in March after angry complaints from across parties that the system created in the wake of the expenses scandal is too restrictive and bureaucratic.

Ipsa has refused to estimate how much the changes would cost the taxpayer, saying it would depend on what MPs decided to claim.