Sixty Tories claim £40,000 each to employ relatives

More than 60 Tory MPs are paying up to £40,000 to family members employed in their offices at the taxpayers' expense, it emerged yesterday.

Laurence Robertson, the MP for Tewkesbury and shadow Northern Ireland minister, declares that he pays his estranged wife Susan and his current partner, Anne Adams, up to £20,000 each. Both women act as secretaries.

Edward Leigh, the Tory chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, pays his wife Mary Leigh £30,000-£40,000 as his office manager. Sir George Young, a member of the parliamentary committee that investigates breaches of the rules, pays his daughter Camilla £30,000-£39,999 as private secretary.

The revelations came as the Commons voted to scrap the controversial "John Lewis list" on which MPs could spend up to £24,000 for household items for second homes. It is being replaced by a maximum allowance of £2,400, dubbed the "Ikea list".

But new disclosures by the Conservative Party as part of their leader David Cameron's drive for more openness showed that many of his MPs are paying their spouses up to £39,999. It is within the rules, but together with their own salaries can bring their joint earnings over £100,000 a year.

Patrick McLoughlin, the Tory Chief Whip, is one of many Conservative MPs who pays his wife £30,000-£39,999. Lynn McLoughlin is his personal assistant and constituency secretary in West Derbyshire. Sir Patrick Cormack employs his wife on a salary of £20-£30,000. Michael Howard, the former Tory leader, pays his wife Sandra up to £10,000 to work part time for him as a secretary. Several Tories also claim the maximum £24,000 a year for interest-only mortgages on their second homes.

Aides to Mr Cameron were indignant that Labour could exploit the disclosures. "We are doing this voluntarily," said one. "We are being transparent, which is more than you can say for Labour."

Seven Tory MPs failed to respond to Mr Cameron's request that they reveal details before August, when disclosure will be mandatory. They include Sir Nicholas Winterton and his wife Ann, who have claimed more than £30,000 a year in "rent" on their home after transferring it to a trust and leasing it back. It is within the rules, but has been criticised.