MSP Expenses

saltire shield 'There were some eyebrows raised at some of the claims, in particular a five-fold increase in
the party leaders' allowance from £5,776 in 2006-7 to £27,193 in 2007-8. Much of the detail of
this was hidden, but parliamentary sources said that most of the extra claims were down to
support costs for former Labour leader Wendy Alexander and ex-Liberal Democrat leader
Nicol Stephen. Much of it is believed to have been spent on staff, including Ms Alexander's
official spokesman, Simon Pia, and £1,200 paid to economics professor Arthur Midwinter for a
month's consultancy work.'
David Maddox Scottish Political Correspondent, in the Scotsman, 23 rd January 2008		Lion Rampant

MSP Expenses for 2007 - 2008

The individual expense claims for MSPs for the period 2007 to 2008 was £10,250,471. This was down slightly on the £10,261,285.86 bill for 2006 to 2007 despite including payments of £124,027.18 to 42 ex-MSPs who had retired, or were defeated in May 2007.

The Party Leaders Allowance increased from £5,775.82 in 2006 to 2007 to £27,193 in 2007 to 2008. The increases were said by Parliamentary officials to have been due largely to spending incurred by Wendy Alexander and Nicol Stephen.

The average expenses per party for serving MSPs were:
Independent (One MSP): £1,960.73 (- £14,583.81)
Scottish Green Party (Two MSPs): £11,685.66 (+ £237.71)
Scottish National Party (47 MSPs): £24,010.18 (- £2,683.22)
Labour (46 MSPs): £24,283.84 (- £250.48)
Presiding Officer (One MSP): £28,108.80 (+ £17,661.45)
Conservatives: (16 MSPs): £28,332.83 (-£1,702.13)
Liberal Democrats: (16 MSPs) £34,543.43 (+ 591.23)

Full information concerning MSP expenses can be found on the Scottish Parliament website.

MSP Expenses for 2006 - 2007 MSP Expenses for 2007 - 2008
MSP Expenses 2006 -2007 MSP Expenses 2007 - 2008

Individual expense claims

Rank MSP Party Expenses (£)
1 Tavish Scott Liberal Democrats 54,434.22
2 Jamie McGrigor Conservative & Unionist 44,564.21
3 Mike Rumbles Liberal Democrats 44,332.26
4 Nicol Stephen Liberal Democrats 43,358.57
5 Jamie Stone Liberal Democrats 42,220.28
6 Dave Stewart Labour 41,474.17
7 Liam MacArthur Liberal Democrats 39,687.26
8 John Lamont Conservative & Unionist 39,651.82
9 Peter Peacock Labour 39,218.39
10 Lewis Macdonald Labour 38,454.03
11 Alison McInnes Liberal Democrats 37,375.12
12 Kenny Gibson Scottish National Party 37,348.55
13 John Farquhar Munro Liberal Democrats 36,826.75
14 Charles Gordon Labour 36,760.48
15 Mary Scanlon Conservative & Unionist 36,647.81
16 John Scott Conservative & Unionist 36,340.52
17 Alasdair Allan Scottish National Party 36,287.72
18 Fergus Ewing Scottish National Party 35,529.03
19 Jeremy Purvis Liberal Democrats 35,114.68
20 Jackie Baillie Labour 34,894.67
21 Karen Gillon Labour 34,757.24
22 Nanette Milne Conservative & Unionist 34,391.52
23 Andrew Welsh Scottish National Party 33,917.42
24 Stuart Mcmillan Scottish National Party 33,854.22
25 Alex Johnstone Conservative & Unionist 33,619.38
26 Duncan McNeil Labour 33,475.33
27 Rhoda Grant Labour 33,204.84
28 Jim Hume Liberal Democrats 33,015.49
29 Jim Mather Scottish National Party 32,133.97
30 Elaine Murray Labour 32,060.46
31 Kenneth Macintosh Labour 31,803.08
32 Wendy Alexander Labour 30,911.25
33 Roseanna Cunningham Scottish National Party 30,503.35
34 Andy Kerr Labour 30,317.73
35 Ross Finnie Liberal Democrats 30,258.72
36 Gil Paterson Scottish National Party 30,230.88
37 Murdo Fraser Conservative & Unionist 30,033.93
38 Christine Grahame Scottish National Party 29,149.84
39 Rob Gibson Scottish National Party 28,902.55
40 Dave Thompson Scottish National Party 28,655.85
41 John Swinney Scottish National Party 28,646.13
42 Ted Brocklebank Conservative & Unionist 28,616.47
43 Michael Russell Scottish National Party 28,163.29
44 Alex Fergusson No Party Affiliation 28,108.80
45 Sarah Boyack Labour 28,045.17
46 Nigel Don Scottish National Party 27,962.19
47 Michael Matheson Scottish National Party 27,944.03
48 Keith Brown Scottish National Party 27,846.04
49 Alex Neil Scottish National Party 27,733.78
50 David Whitton Labour 27,715.84
51 Richard Lochhead Scottish National Party 27,517.80
52 Margaret Mitchell Conservative & Unionist 27,466.63
53 Adam Ingram Scottish National Party 27,236.23
54 Robert Brown Liberal Democrats 27,132.57
55 Pauline McNeill Labour 27,054.82
56 Stewart Maxwell Scottish National Party 25,872.55
57 Richard Simpson Labour 25,821.62
58 Paul Martin Labour 25,611.05
59 Cathy Jamieson Labour 25,555.15
60 Elaine Smith Labour 25,536.32
61 Frank McAveety Labour 25,261.54
62 Stewart Stevenson Scottish National Party 25,090.47
63 Bill Aitken Conservative & Unionist 24,777.27
64 Alasdair Morgan Scottish National Party 24,766.64
65 Michael McMahon Labour 24,625.00
66 Hugh Henry Labour 24,508.92
67 Joe FitzPatrick Scottish National Party 24,498.48
68 Bill Kidd Scottish National Party 24,304.62
69 Karen Whitefield Labour 23,988.37
70 Kenny MacAskill Scottish National Party 23,981.73
71 Aileen Campbell Scottish National Party 23,790.44
72 Marlyn Glen Labour 23,746.31
73 Trish Godman Labour 23,669.09
74 Iain Smith Liberal Democrats 23,667.15
75 Brian Adam Scottish National Party 23,486.08
76 Angela Constance Scottish National Party 23,306.79
77 Jack McConnell Labour 23,209.32
78 Bruce Crawford Scottish National Party 23,130.00
79 Bob Doris Scottish National Party 22,962.17
80 Sandra White Scottish National Party 22,812.95
81 Nicola Sturgeon Scottish National Party 22,770.83
82 Annabel Goldie Conservative & Unionist 22,702.13
83 Richard Baker Labour 22,213.33
84 Alex Salmond Scottish National Party 22,108.13
85 Jackson Carlaw Conservative & Unionist 21,761.06
86 Shona Robison Scottish National Party 21,281.31
87 Tricia Marwick Scottish National Party 20,809.46
88 Jim Tolson Labour 20,599.09
89 Margaret Curran Labour 20,595.52
90 Marilyn Livingstone Labour 20,153.17
91 Rhona Brankin Labour 20,010.05
92 Derek Brownlee Conservative & Unionist 19,905.11
93 Mike Pringle Liberal Democrats 19,797.90
94 Elizabeth Smith Conservative & Unionist 19,442.41
95 Irene Oldfather Labour 19,375.68
96 Bashir Ahmad Scottish National Party 18,922.17
97 Mary Mulligan Labour 18,886.37
98 Tom McCabe Labour 18,860.49
99 Linda Fabiani Scottish National Party 18,745.92
100 Patrick Harvie Scottish Green Party 18,674.30
101 David McLetchie Conservative & Unionist 18,659.49
102 John Park Labour 18,261.83
103 Cathie Craigie Labour 18,150.08
104 Maureen Watt Scottish National Party 17,712.77
105 Patricia Ferguson Labour 17,625.80
106 James Kelly Labour 17,549.49
107 Cathy Peattie Labour 17,525.03
108 Bill Butler Labour 17,323.97
109 Johann Lamont Labour 17,284.72
110 Bill Wilson Scottish National Party 16,821.65
111 Helen Eadie Labour 16,169.75
112 Iain Gray Labour 16,042.08
113 Claire Baker Labour 15,874.74
114 Hugh O'Donnell Liberal Democrats 15,546.04
115 Des McNulty Labour 15,530.32
116 Christina McKelvie Scottish National Party 15,102.14
117 Christopher Harvie Scottish National Party 15,080.59
118 Margaret Smith Liberal Democrats 14,785.36
119 Gavin Brown Conservative & Unionist 14,745.49
120 Malcolm Chisholm Labour 13,769.38
121 Jamie Hepburn Scottish National Party 13,736.89
122 Willie Coffey Scottish National Party 12,783.37
123 John Wilson Scottish National Party 12,499.79
124 Shirley-Anne Somerville Scottish National Party 11,928.68
125 Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party 11,376.95
126 Colin Fox * Scottish Socialist Party 9,375.04
127 Ian McKee Scottish National Party 9,232.02
128 Allan Wilson * Labour 9,205.55
129 Margaret Jamieson * Labour 9,158.80
130 Rosie Kane * Scottish Socialist Party 9,158.34
131 Frances Curran * Scottish Socialist Party 8,864.79
132 Carolyn Leckie * Scottish Socialist Party 7,576.37
133 Euan Robson * Liberal Democrats 6,991.59
134 Scott Barrie * Labour 6,851.18
135 Nora Radcliffe * Liberal Democrats 5,998.61
136 Alasdair Morrison * Labour 4,719.87
137 Robin Harper Scottish Green Party 4,697.01
138 Maureen McMillan * Labour 4,521.17
139 Gordon Jackson * Labour 4,243.62
140 Tommy Sheridan * Solidarity 4,196.16
141 Lord Foulkes of Cumnock *** Labour 4,174.83
143 Stefan Tymkewycz ** Scottish National Party 4,083.74
143 Campbell Martin * Independent 4,053.35
144 Phil Gallie * Conservative & Unionist 3,190.81
145 Jim Wallace * Liberal Democrats 2,455.95
146 David Davidson * Conservative & Unionist 2,142.35
147 Margo MacDonald Independent 1,960.73
148 Murray Tosh * Conservative & Unionist 1,944.28
149 Rosemary Byrne * Solidarity 1,860.79
150 Kate McLean * Labour 1,828.43
151 John Home Robertson * Labour 1,485.24
152 George Lyon * Liberal Democrats 1,250.39
153 Sylvia Jackson * Labour 1,194.05
154 Christine May * Labour 1,102.89
155 Bristow Muldoon * Labour 854.31
156 George Reid * Independent 818.31
157 John Swinburne * Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party 703.01
158 Mark Ruskell * Scottish Green Party 633.06
159 Shiona Baird * Scottish Green Party 614.08
160 Dennis Canavan * Independent 512.45
161 Dave Petrie * Conservative & Unionist 499.97
162 Susan Deacon * Labour 396.58
162 Brian Monteith * Independent 396.24
164 Chris Ballance * Scottish Green Party 241.71
165 Eleanor Scott * Scottish Green Party 185.43
166 Donald Gorrie * Liberal Democrats 182.64
167 Janis Hughes * Labour 153.27
168 Bruce McFee * Scottish National Party 125.45
169 Lord Selkirk of Douglas * Conservative & Unionist 106.74
170 Jean Turner * Independent 94.58
171 Andrew Arbuckle * Liberal Democrats 55.99
172 Mark Ballard * Scottish Green Party 39.90
* MSP retired or defeated in May 2007 - winding up expenses
** MSP retired on 31 st August 2007
*** Lord Foulkes also claimed £54,527 in expenses for spending 94 days at the House of Lords.
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